Into Oblivion 'A Talbain Tail'
by AztecMoogle
Summary: A story that shows the background and history of the Oblivions from my A Talbain Tail story. Please read my previous stories if you haven't already as the charecters in this story will not make any sense to you if you haven't Thank you.
1. Chapter I: A White Tiger Named Oblivion

_Chapter I_: **A White Tiger Named Oblivion.**

*Disclaimer!* I do not own the name "Darkstalkers" or any of their characters, that I might or might not use in this story.

**Note to reader**  
>This story is part of my A Talbain Tail series. It is not a sequel or a prequel in any actual aspect but it's to add depth to the series and to satisfy a request. If I had to place this story somewhere, it would be after Her Name is Blue and before (and during) Talbain, Jonathan Talbain. If you have not read any of my stories, please feel free to do so. Thank you.<p>

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><p>The new mooned sky did it's best to illuminate my dark backyard on this Saturday night. I looked around and saw Poe and his girlfriend sitting on the hammock attached on the two trees on my back yard. At least I thought it was Poe. I had twin sons; Poe and Jimmy and I was only able to tell them apart when they spoke as Jimmy's voice was slightly deeper than Poe's.<p>

Desirée, my oldest daughter, walked out through the sliding glass door, holding a homemade burger. She wore a plain white T-Shirt with the words "Plain White T's" written across her chest. She wore a simple blue jean skirt over some black stockings and sandals. Her right ear had seven different earrings, each with a single carrot stone of different color while her left ear had four. She told me that they represented the zodiac signs and that the placement meant compatibility. The subtle aquamarine piercing in her nose meant that she was born in late march, which made her an Aries.

"Here you go, dad." She said and placed the burger in my lap.

"Thanks, Desirée." I said and examined the burger. "It's not raw is it?"

"No... At least, I don't think it is." She replied seriously.

"Did you cook it?" I asked and poked at it, not really sure where I was going with that but I just wanted to do something to the motionless burger I front of me.

"I am getting better in the kitchen; mom and Aunt Alexandria have been showing me." Desirée replied.

Jimmy pushed through his older sister and fell to the floor in front of me. He rolled around while holding his chest and wheezing.

"Help...I'm dying..." He said between gasps. "Dezirée's burger...killed me...poison! Call the cops." He stopped moving as he lay on the floor with his head to the side and his tongue out, his leg twitched twice and he lay still.

I stared at him then at Desirée's, who cocked a hip and crossed her arms. I sighed and stretched and placed my feet on top of Jimmy's stomach.

"Ow!" Jimmy said and crawled away.

"Stop making fun of your sister." I said and bit into the burger then frowned when I saw that it didn't have any lettuce. "It's not her fault that she can't cook."

"I can too cook!" Desirée protested.

"No you can't! Remember when you put eggs in your spaghetti?" Jimmy said.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Desirée replied.

"Yeah, if you're crazy!" Jimmy said.

"Stop making fun of your sister, Jimmy." I said. "You're doing the dishes today."

"Awe, dad! Why do I have to do the dishes? I'm a guy!" Protested Jimmy.

I heard Desirée pout.

"Guys do the dishes too." I said.

"So why don't you do the dishes?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah why is that?" I heard someone say.

I turned and saw Aye, my wife, walk up as if she just appeared. And knowing her, she probably did. She opened my burger and placed a piece of lettuce and tomato inside of it.

"Awe, I don't want a tomato!" I said and started removing it but stopped and placed it back when my wife stared at me, disapprovingly. "...and to answer your question: I had kids for a reason. They do the dirty work, and I take the credit."

"Hey!" Desirée said as she stared at me with her arms crossed and tilted head.

"What?" I asked. "Why else would I have you guys? To feed and care for you?" I asked and bit into the tomato contaminated burger.

"Yes." She suggested.

"Yeah well that's part of it."

Desirée scoffed and walked back inside.

"Bring me another burger!" I yelled after her.

"Hey dad!" Poe said as he walked closer and dragged his girlfriend by the hand.

"Yeah?" I asked as I finished my burger and slid over as Aye sat on the chairs arm, next to me.

"Erika wants to know your guys' story. You know, the one you've told us about, the one you've told us a million times."

"Oh yeah! So the doctor said that the bump in my back was just a zit and when I finally do pop it, it will smell like rotten pickles." I replied and smile when everyone stared at me in disgust.

"Ew! No the one about when you was a kid." Poe said and silently reassured his grossed out girlfriend.

"If it's not too much problem." The girl said. She was a nice girl: a year older and two inches taller than Poe. She had long black hair and almond shaped brown eyes. Poe brought her home several times, and she's always been nice so I've never complained.

Aye, my wife, in the other hand, didn't approve of one of her babies dating in general. It wasn't like it mattered as she complained but didn't do anything about it. I never said anything as I didn't approve of any of boys that my daughters brought home.

I shrugged and looked at Aye who smiled back at me then looked up sharply as Desirée and my other daughter, Joanna, yelled from inside.

"Mom...mom! Get in here! Help!" Joanna said as the fire alarm went off.

"Those girls can burn water, I swear..." Aye said then snapped her fingers and disappeared, air rushed to fill the space where she had been.

"Well first of it all... This tale starts long ago." I started and leaned forward in my chair as Poe, Jimmy and Erika (Poe's girlfriend) sat on the ground.

-0-

The three year old werewolf tackled me into the air as I laughed and landed on all fours then tackled him to the ground. He giggled as my sister jumped on my back and held on. A white cat girl walked up and pulled on the werewolf's hand.

"Jonathan, daddy wants you." She said.

An older werewolf walked up and looked at us. His thick blue and white fur stood proudly as he smiled at us. Dad said that he was a friend but he still looked scary.

"Come on guys. The fireworks are about to start." He said and helped us up.

We walked up and I ran to my mother who hugged me close to her. I scooted closer then stopped when I accidentally dug my claws into her leg. I apologized as a cat woman with extremely long blue hair smiled at my mother.

My sister sat down on my father's lap and smiled as the first of the fireworks illuminated the night sky. My father wrapped his white tiger arms around my sister to keep her warm.

-0-

"My name is Richard Oblivion" I said as I introduced myself to my class. "I'm eleven and I have one sister and no brothers. I like to write and do math."

"Hi Richard." The classroom said, without the slightest hint of synchronicity.

It was my first day in school in this familiar Texas town, my family moved here before I was born. My father said I had a Texan accent, I would find that weird but most of the people here did.

There was a change in school districts, a month back, and several students were drafted into this school, not that there was anything wrong with that. It was just that, apart from my sister, I didn't know anyone here, and the other kids that were drafted along with me were complete strangers.

"Thank you, Richard. Please sit down in an empty desk." The teacher said as she placed her hand on my arm and signaled towards the other students.

There were only two empty seats; one was by an older boy, around 14, with black make up around his eyes. He kinda looked like a raccoon with an attitude problem. I imagined his reaction if I was to offer him a cookie and dangle it in front of him but the dog collar around his neck frightened me. The boy stared at me, which made me wince so I sat down in the edge of the room next to a mousy Hispanic girl.

I placed my books on the desk and looked at the white board as the teacher wrote down important dates.

I started writing the dates in my notebook then jumped when a neatly folded note hit my arm and fell to the floor. The teacher stopped when she heard the paper hit the ground but continued after a few seconds.

I looked around and the girl next to me smiled then looked away as I slowly unfolded the note.

"Hi!" It said and had a circle on top of the i. My sister did that too, I wondered if it was a girl thing.

I wrote a quick reply and tossed the paper back. The girl next to me caught it, even though she didn't see me toss it, and opened it expertly.

We spent the rest of the class passing notes between note taking until the bell finally rang and we all walked out.

The girl walked up to me and held out her hand.

"I'm Veronica, my friends call me Vee." She said.

I shook her hand and smiled. "I'm Richard, my friends call me Richard."

She smiled and looked at me. "Where's your next class?" She asked as we walked out while hugging a notebook with white tigers on the cover.

"Room... 231." I said as I examined my schedule.

"I have room 222 so I'll show you were it is." She said and walked out and down the hall with me right behind her.

"Isn't it lunch time right now?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Yeah." She started as we stepped out of the corridor. "The cafeteria is in there, I have to get my stuff so I'll meet you inside."

"Okay." I said and stepped into the crowded cafeteria.

The sound of several conversations happening at once filled the building. People lined up and traded tickets and notes for meals on a tray. Mom never believed in those so she always packed us a lunch.

"Richard!" Said a familiar voice.

I looked around and saw my sister jumping up and down as she tried getting my attention.

I waved back and walked over then sat opposite her.

"Hey, Allie." I replied as I opened my lunch box and pulled out the ham sandwich.

"Hi, Richard, how's your first day going?" She asked and bit into her sandwich.

"Good, yours?" I replied.

"Good. You've made any friends yet? I haven't..." She said sadly.

"Well..." I started but was interrupted when someone else called my name.

I looked back and saw Veronica running towards me with a tray in her hands.

A boy extended his foot and tripped Veronica while laughing and high fiveing his friend. People turned to look as she hit the floor. Some laughed, others gasped but nobody did anything to help.

I stood up and walked over as students stared.

"Freak!" The boy who tripped her said and walked off with his friends right behind him.

"Veronica, are you okay?" I said as I knelt next to her.

"Yeah..." She said and examined her scraped elbow. I helped her gather the only thing that wasn't all over the floor and walked her over to the table where my sister was.

She sat down next to me with a chocolate milk carton in her hands. I handed her half my sandwich and she took it happily.

"Veronica, this is my sister, Alexandria." I said.

"Call me, Allie." My sister said and shook her hand. "Good to meet you Veronica."

"So both of you were drafted here?" Veronica asked.

-0-

I walked out of my class and met Veronica as I walked through the gate into the everyday world. She stood by me while I waited for my mom to pick me up.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "That boy was mean to you."

"Yeah... A lot of people are like that." She said.

I was going to ask but stopped when my sister walked over to stand next to me as my mother drove up.

"Where are your parents?" I asked Veronica.

"They both work today, so I'm walking home." She said as she adjusted the backpack on her back.

"Want a ride?" I asked her.

"Sure."

"Mom, can we give my friend a ride home?" I asked and smiled when my mother nodded.

I stepped in and helped my sister and friend into the minivan. My mom was turning the corner a few seconds later. Veronica lived a few blocks away from us so we had to make a detour.

"Thank you Richard's mom!" Veronica said as she stepped out of the minivan and waved.

"You're welcomed, Veronica! Bye." My mom said and Veronica slid the door closed.

"So Richard... Is she your g-" My sister started but I caught her off.

"I know what you're going to say, Allie. And I know that you won't stop until I say 'yes, she's my girlfriend' happy?"

"Awe, you're no fun..." Alexandria pouted.

My mom chuckled and took off.

-0-

Two weeks passed and it was clear that some people here didn't approve of Darkstalkers, in general. My father told us to not transform unless it was completely necessary. It felt as if we were hiding what we really were.

Did I forget to mention? I'm a white tiger. My father and sister are too. My mother is a regular human, though. My father called her explained what we were but it never sank in. All I knew is that I was able to transform into a sudo version of a white tiger. I never changed to my full tiger form as it was really hot, so instead I just transformed my limbs and senses.

My father said that our kind was segregated because people weren't too understanding; I kept forgetting to look up the definition of the word "segregated" so I didn't exactly knot what he was talking about.

The more time I spent in school, the more obvious it became that bullied antagonized people, in what seemed at random sometimes. Veronica was one of those people. I didn't think that she had powers like me or my sister or my father. No, I think that she was picked on because she never fought back. I punched a boy for pushing her a few days ago. My mom grounded me but my dad overruled it as he said that I didn't do anything wrong.

A few people at school were always picked on, the nerds and losers as well as others. My father always told my sister and me to never let anyone walk over us so it wasn't a surprise when my mother was called into the school as I sat in the principal's office with another boy next to me. We both had been fighting, he hit me once and I whooped his butt.

My father showed me how to use the white tiger's speed and strength without actually looking like one. It wasn't much help but it was enough for me to have the edge in a redundant and useless school fight.

My mom was arguing with the principle, or pretending to. The principle had already agreed that I didn't do anything wrong and that the kid next to me was going to be expelled as he would constantly fighting with others and even pulled a knife on a girl.

I was sent back to class after that. I sat next to Veronica who passed me a note, asking what happened. I explained and passed the note back. We passed notes for half an hour but stopped when the teacher stared at us. The bell rang and we all headed out.

"Richard, Veronica, can I see you two after class?" The teacher asked before I could make it out.

Veronica and I walked back and stood by the teacher.

"I know, teacher, don't pass notes." Veronica said quietly.

"Exactly, or at least, don't do it quiet enough for me to not hear the rustling of paper." She said and winked at us. "Just remember rule number one."

"Bro's before ho's?" I asked but flinched when she stared at me. "I mean, what's rule number one?"

"Rule number one is don't get caught." She said and shook her head. "It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter as long as you don't get caught."

Veronica and I stared at each other then at the teacher. "Okay..." Veronica started then smiled when the teacher showed every sign of being serious.

"Get out of here, you two. Y'all gon' be late for lunch." The teacher said and turned around to wipe the whiteboard.

We walked out then headed down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

"Well that was weird..." I said.

"Not really, Ms. Giddier has always been really nice with me, because I'm..." Veronica started but trailed off.

"Huh? Because you're what?" I asked but stopped when a boy passed by and knocked down Veronica's books from her hands then laughed and hi fived his friends as he walked away.

"Not again..." Veronica mumbled and bent down to pick her books up.

"Assholes!" I yelled instinctively.

The boys stopped then looked at each other and turned to face me.

"What you say, you little dumb, stupid, prick." The first boy said as he walked over. He didn't seem intelligent by any level.

"I called you an asshole, you illiterate bastard!" I said and walked forward.

A crowd had gathered to watch and to surreptitiously block teachers from stopping the fight that was about to happen.

The first boy quickened his pace as he walked up to me and punched me in the face.

I fell down but got on all fours and tackled the boy to the ground then punched him twice before one of his friends kicked me aside.

The boys surrounded me and proceeded to stomp on my midsection and legs. I covered my face with my hands as feet impacted my body.

"Leave him alone!" Veronica said and tried pulling the first boy away.

The boy shoved her away then slapped her when she tried removing him again.

I growled and felt my white tiger fangs extend from my canine teeth as I started transforming to my white tiger form.

My hands quickly changed to larger white and black paws. I waited till my claws peered from the paws and lashed out to the first boy and clawed at his leg. My claws tore through his pants and dug deep into his leg.

The boy cried out and fell back as the other boys stared at their friend in confusion. Blood quickly puddled around the floor under the boy's leg as he whined and whimpered at the sight of the blood and his torn leg.

I turned quickly and tripped the boy on the right and punched his face as hard as I could, with my white tiger paw. The crowd of students cried out when they saw me, when they saw the boy with white fur and paws. A few students ran away while others shifted to try and see me.

The boy underneath me shifted and cried out and I just growled loudly at him. He stopped and stared at me with horror in his eyes.

I felt a sharp pain and turned around to see the third boy pulling on my tail. I lifted my leg and kicked him as hard as I could in between his legs, and grinned as he crossed his legs and removed his hands from my tail to hold himself then fall over and made awkward noises.

I smiled then stopped when I realized that everyone was staring at me. I stood up and looked around at all the scared and horror struck faces until I stared at Veronica who stared back at me. She wasn't scared or shocked. She was actually...relieved...happy in a way.

I heard someone yell something and I gasped when I felt like I was falling until I realized that I was standing inside the nurses office. I gasped as the sudden shock faded away. I was now sitting on her leather chair that that the nurse used for students when she was checking their injuries.

I looked around and cried out when the door quickly opened and saw seven figures quickly shuffle into the room. I recognized most of them:

Mr. Johnson, my math teacher. A tall and slender middle aged man. He crossed and uncrossed his arms as if to find a comfortable position so he wouldn't just have his hands hanging on his sides.

Mr. Daniels, my sociology teacher. A medium sized man in his late 40's. He had a small spaghetti stain in his white shirt.

Mrs. Wake, my PE teacher. She was a large woman that enjoyed being in control and wasn't afraid to get in someone's face if she felt like they needed a good swift scolding.

Mr. Sherands, my English substitute teacher. He had been a substitute teacher with a permanent position as an English professor. He was tall dark and handsome enough.

Principle DeLeon. He wore some dark blue khaki pants and a black dress shirt with a black and white tie. He stared at me with curiosity.

And Ms. Giddier, my history teacher. She smiled pleasantly at me as she shut the door behind me.

"What's goin' on?" I asked, my voice was a little more frightened than I wanted it to be. I wanted to say more but I stopped myself when I realized that all my white tiger parts were gone. My paws, ears fur and tail had dissolved back into my human skin and limbs.

"Mr. Oblivion. Your transcript didn't say anything about you being a Dark one." Principle DeLeon started as he stared at me.

Mr. Daniels moved and closed the blinds as Ms. Giddier locked the only door, the only exit.

"What do you want? What are you going to do to me?"

They all stared at each other then turned and smiled at me.


	2. Chapter II: March 14th

_Chapter II_: **March 14th**

"What makes you think that we're going to do anything to you, Mr. Oblivion?" Mr. DeLeon said pleasantly.

"What?" I asked.

"Richard." Started Ms. Giddier, "a lot of people are dark ones, both here in this school and outside in the real world. There are people who both hate and fear us but there are also people who protect and accept our kind..."

"Us?" I asked.

"All, but Mr. Johnson, are dark ones in this circle, even nurse Lara." Principle DeLeon said. "My point is that you and your sister and Ms. Walker are three among many here. A lot of people don't like us because they fear us, and rightly so. Some dark ones are dangerous and aren't afraid to use their powers for bad."

I was relieved, I was sure that I was going to be suspended or expelled or worse. But even though relief passed through me, I still had some questions. I looked around and into the faces of everyone in the room. I still had some questions like: "Who's Ms. Walker?"

"Ms. Walker? Hold on." Ms. Giddier said and opened the door then signaled for someone to walk in.

A figure stepped down from the seats outside of the nurse's office and walked towards the door at a steady pace. The blinds covered the figure's body but I was able to make out the shoes. The same black and pink shoes that belonged to-

"Hi, Richard..." Veronica said when she stood by the door, right next to Ms. Giddier.

"Veronica? You're like me? You're a-" I started but stopped when Veronica cringed slightly.

"Please don't call me that..." Veronica whimpered.

"Don't call you what?" Started Mrs. Wake as she put her hands on her hips. "Honey, you're a dark one, just like all of us, except for Shane here."

"Can you quit rubbing it in, woman?" Mr. Johnson said in an annoyed Irish voice. "So I 'an't freeze time like you, big deal!"

"Stop it." DeLeon said abruptly and everyone quieted down.

"Sorry..." Mr. Johnson said.

"So... What's gonna happen now that everyone knows what I am?" I asked.

"Exactly who knows what you are?" Principle DeLeon asked, suggestively. "Do you mean all those students that saw you? None of them remember what happened a few minutes ago."

"You erased their minds?" I asked.

"Not as such, no." Ms. Giddier started. "They'll just forget that they ever saw anything until they remember. And if I did it right, they won't remember for at least another 167 years."

"What about the one's that got away?" I said. "Some ran when I changed."

"Who's gonna believe a handful of kids." Mrs. Wake said dismissively.

"I don't know about that, Yvette." Mr. Johnson said. "There are leaks on the Internet about us. Enough gossip has a tendency to be seen as real."

"You always have to contradict me, Shane." Mrs. Wake practically yelled.

"Well if you weren't wrong all the damn time..."

Ms. Giddier signaled for me to walk outside with her and Veronica as the faculty members tried separating the two arguing teachers.

Ms. Giddier motioned for us to sit on the seats that were in the waiting room of the nurse's office. She leaned on the wall and smiled at us.

"I bet you guys have questions." She said.

We both sat down and stared at each other than at Ms. Giddier.

"First of it all, there is nothing wrong with being a dark one. There is nothing wrong with accepting the way you're born, it's not like you asked for any of this." She said.

"I don't have to like it." Veronica replied.

"No... Indeed you don't. But you do have to accept it and move on." Ms. Giddier said. "Now, you two will still be safe while in school grounds as I was able to make most of them forget but try not to use your powers anymore, okay?"

I nodded slowly and Veronica followed.

"Why do people hate us, Ms. Giddier?" Veronica asked.

"They don't hate us, Veronica." Ms. Giddier said. "They fear us. They are scared of what we could do and they aren't exactly wrong in doing so. Some dark ones use their powers for evil and to hurt others. There are groups of people that are dedicating themselves to protect our kind. I'm part of a group that believes that we should be able to walk freely among the world like everyone else can."

"I think we shouldn't have to hide our true selves." I said truthfully.

"One day, Richard. One day..." Ms. Giddier said and opened the door leading out. "Come on guys, it's almost time for your last class to start. I'll walk you to your classes."

We then jumped off the seats and walked out of the room alongside Ms. Giddier.

-0-

A month has passed and everything had turned back to normal. People still picked on Veronica but there always seemed to be a teacher present so nothing would really happen.

I lay on my bed as I waited for my alarm to go off. The red LED screen read "6:09am" which meant that I had six minutes before I had to get up.

I had been dreaming of a world where people who were half animals, like me, we're able to be in their real forms in the public eye. It didn't seem impossible; all we needed to do was accept each other.

6:11 Am. I let my body shift to its white tiger form and I examined my paws. The thick black on white fur covered them completely. My white tiger ears heard my sister shifting in her bed, half way down the hall.

6:14 Am. I sighed and stood up and slammed my alarm clock off right when it hit 6:15. I smiled and felt proud, it was an idiotic thing but I blamed my y chromosome for the satisfaction.

It took fifteen minutes for me to take a shower, get ready and be downstairs and eating a plate of imitation corn flakes with lactose intolerant milk.

My mother yawned as she poured milk for a bowl in front of an empty chair.

"Morning!" Alie said as she walked down the stairs with a small towel in her hands that she used to dry her hair.

"Morning." My mother and I replied in almost perfect unison.

My sister sat down in the empty chair and dug into her cereal and read the back of the cereal box.

My father walked down the stairs and adjusted his shirt. "Morning everyone!" He said as he kissed my mom.

"Morning dad!" Alie and I said.

My dad petted my head and stole a bite of my cereal then took the coffee mug that my mom held out for him.

"Hey dad, can I have some coffee?" I asked curiously.

"You're too young for coffee, dear." My mother said and turned to wash the few dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, maybe when you're a little older." My father said and handed me the mug while my mom wasn't looking.

I sipped the mug and made a disgusted face. I licked my lips a few time but couldn't get the taste from my mouth.

My father silently laughed and brushed my hair.

"Imma go now, since I'm not wanted here." My father said.

My mother smiled and kissed him. "...anyway. Have a good day, dear!"

My father walked out the door and looked for his keys then saw that my mother had already turned the car on for him, then got into his car and drove off.

"Come on guys, we're going to be late." My mom said and motioned for us to get up.

I got up, threw the black and red backpack over my shoulder, and started walking out the door as my sister shoveled the last of her cereal into her mouth as she stood up.

We all sat down inside of the car as my mom turned the engine and backed up. A car screeched to a stop and barely tapped our car. We slowly rocked as my mother gasped and looked outside then to my sister and me.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked as I saw a man in, what looked like, military attire walk out of the black SUV. "Stay here."

My mother unbuckled her seatbelt and walked out of the car.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" The man in military attire asked as he walked closer.

"We're okay." My mother said. "I'm sorry; I wasn't paying attention when I was backing out..."

"It's okay ma'am." The military man said. "My name is Sergeant Robert Grayson. It's nice to meet you, even in this unconventional of circumstances." He extended his hand and shook my mother's.

"Hi, I'm Pamela Oblivion." My mother said.

A mousy woman in a lab coat and knee length skirt stepped out of the car that the military man named Robert Grayson had walked out of. "There doesn't seem to be any real damage to either car so I say we continue with our day."

"That-that sounds good to me." My mother replied.

"If you folk need something, here is my card." Robert Grayson said as he pulled out his wallet and handed a small business card. "...and that includes any damages that your husband might feel that need repairing."

"How-how did you know I was married?" My mother asked reluctantly.

"There's a ring on your finger." The woman said as she smiled at me and my sister.

"Oh, right, yes... That would explain it." My mother chuckled.

Grayson bowed goodbye then waved at us happily and got back into his SUV and backed up so my mother could get by.

My mother made her way into the car and backed up before she could buckle and waved at the military man and his lab assistant then drove off.

"Don't tell your father about this." My mother said, turned the corner and looked through the rear mirror to see the black SUV drive passed. My mother sighed then slammed on the breaks as she almost hit the back of another car. "Today's not my day..."

"Mom... I have to use the bathroom." My sister said.

My mother nodded and pulled into a fast food restaurant and ordered a large cup of coffee while my sister used the little girl's room.

We arrived at school with three minutes to spare. Alexandria and I waved goodbye at my mother as we climbed the steps into the school. I stopped when another car parked behind my mother and Veronica walked out of the sliding door.

-00-

"And then it happened... That was the day that your grandfather and grandmother died." I said.

Poe, Jimmy, Erika, Joanna, and Desirée were sitting around me in chairs or empty paint bottles and even on the floor as they listened to my story attentively.

"Why what happened next, Uncle Richard?" A boy asked me.

I turned around and saw Felix, my nephew, standing by the sliding glass door that led into my backyard.

"Felix!" I practically yelled and stood up to shake his hand and side hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom and dad suggested that we come see you." Felix said happily. "We're having a gathering on Saturday; mom wants to ask you to come by."

"Is she here?" I asked then noticed a woman walk through the glass door and stare at me while smiling her award winning smile.

"Alie!" I said and hugged her tightly as I picked her up and shook her as hard as I could without smashing her head against anything.

She tried saying something but all that came out was "Ich...ard...go...me...ca...reath..."

It hasn't been a long time since I've seen her or anything like that. Telling our story just made me want to see her, and here she was... Weird how things work out sometimes.

I finally let my suffocating sister down as she gasped for breath as my brother-in-law, Ray Ayalando, walked out and shook my hand.

"Why don't you bear hug him?" My sister asked as she coughed twice.

"That would be awkward and uncalled for." I said smugly.

"Yeah, plus a little bit in the Navy side..." Richard added.

"Navy side?" I asked.

"Yeah... You know... In the Navy and all that..." Ray said.

"What? Oh... Yeah that too." I said when I finally understood his less than hetero sexual suggestion.

"What are you guys doing?" Ray asked and waved at the young adults sitting around the chair where I was sitting in.

"Dad's telling us a story." Jimmy said.

"Story?" Alexandria asked. "What story?"

"Our story." I replied.

"Oh... That story." My sister replied sadly.

"What story is that?" Ray asked.

"The story on how we got to be where we are now... It's actually quite sad." Alexandria said to the dark haired brown eyed 6' tan man she called her husband.

"I haven't heard this story yet." Ray said beamingly.

"I'm just getting to the sad part."

"Oh that day..." My sister sighed.

"Yeah... March 14th."

"Well we won't interrupt you." Ray started. "Go on with your story, we'll listen."

I sat back down on my chair as Aye, my wife, walked out and handed everyone some hot chocolate then proceeded to sit down in mid air right next to me. That ability she had always creeped me out but I had more sends than to say anything, plus it made for interesting sexual experiences.

"Well, getting back to the story, my father normally came home around five. But that day, March 14th, he was home early. So we decided to go down to the park for a walk."

"No, we went to go eat somewhere, Vee met us there and then we headed for the park." Alie said.

"Oh yeah..." I said "She did, didn't she... Anyway. My father, your grandfather, used to work in construction, not because it was the only place that would have him or because he didn't know how to do anything else, but because he was able to be himself there. He was able to be in his white tiger form whenever he needed or wanted to. He was good at his job, one of the best and nobody treated him differently because he was a part large cat."

-00-

My sister yelled at the TV as we played video games. We played a wrestling game and she always chose different characters because, she thought, if she had to yell at them then they weren't any good.

"You yellow underwear wearing piece of crap! Pin him! Pin him! No don't do that! Why would I want to get out of the damn ring! Climb it, climb it, no don't climb that!" My sister shrieked as I was amusing myself as I made my character dodge and counter as many of her moves as I dared.

My sister was into sports before I was; she wasn't a Tom-boy or anything. She must have thought that if she was interested in football, baseball, and wrestling then she could easily attract the opposite sex.

The alarm clock in my room read 2:37pm. We still had two and a half hours before my father came home and 23 minutes before my mom made us start on our homework.

"What are you doing? What the hell are you doing? I didn't tell you to get hurt? When did I tell you to get hurt? Why would you get hurt? Get up! Oh wow, can you stand the hell up!" My sister continued to yell at the TV.

I smiled but gasped when my mother shrieked from somewhere downstairs. We dropped our controllers as we ran out of my room and down the stairs and into the foyer then smiled when we noticed my mother vigorously assaulting my father with a hand towel.

"William Phillip Oblivion, you scared me half to death there!" My mother said then continued to assault my father with the menacing hand towel with the duck picture on it.

"Every time you use my name, I think I'm in trouble." My father said and kissed my mother.

"You...kinda are." My mother said smiling. "You're home early, what happened?"

"Work was finished with quickly so they let us out early." My father said as he searched through the fridge.

"That was nice of them." My mother started. "I haven't started on dinner yet, I didn't expect you to be home for a few more hours."

"Awe, I was hoping to have a nice lunch waiting for me." My father complained as he looked inside the fridge.

"I can make you something really quick if you'd like." My mother said then stood up and walked over to my father.

"I actually want to go out somewhere, we could walk, and it's been a while since we've all been together on a Saturday." My father suggested and smiled when he finally noticed Alexandria and me.

"Sure, that would be nice." My mother said and adjusted her hair slightly. "Get ready kids!"

I shoved my sister out of the way as I ran up the stairs.

"Hey!" She protested and ran up after me.

-0-

"Hey look at that!" My father said as he pointed at the door.

I turned and saw a large man wearing a shirt too small for him. The man bent down and his pants ripped in relief from the pressure of the man's ass.

I smiled as I heard my sister giggle as I turned back around and ate my wavy fries that were covered in mustard.

"Did you know that was gonna happen?" My mother asked my father.

"No, I just wanted some of Dick's mustard fries." My father said.

"Don't call him that, it sounds tacky." My mother complained.

"What's a Dick?" My sister asked as she bit into her second corndog.

"See!" My mother said as she lifted her hands and let them drop on her lap. "You'll learn when you're older, Honey."

I lifted a fry to my mouth as someone shoved me enough so I pick my nose with my fry.

I snorted slightly and looked back and saw Veronica smiling at me.

"Veronica!" I let out. "What are you doing here?" I asked as she put her hands behind her back and rocked on her feet.

"Mom and dad wanted to go out so we decided to eat here." Veronica said. "Hi, Alie. Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Richard's parents."

"Hey, you're... Veronica right? Richard's friend." My mother said and nudged at my father's arm slightly in a 'that's the girl I was telling you about' kind of way.

A man and a woman walked up stood behind Veronica while they smiled.

"Hello, I'm Bill Walker and this is my wife Sarah." The man said as he shook my parents' hand.

"Nice to meet you." The woman said.

My parents introduced themselves and we all sat down to eat our food in good cheer. Veronica sat between Alie and me as she ate an order of chicken tenders.

"We're going to sit in the park for a bit to watch the sunset after we eat, do you guys want to come with?" Mr. Walker asked.

My father looked at my mother and shrugged approvingly. "Sure, that would be great."

-0-

"Can I tell you something?" Veronica asked me as we walked in front of the grownups as we headed to the park.

The sun was setting slowly and the sky changed from its blue to more of an orange and red and purple. People walked by, concentrating on their unimaginable business.

"Sure." I said.

"You and your sister are my only friends." Veronica said shyly.

"Really? I thought you said that you had several friends.

"No, I pretended to so I could try and impress you." Veronica continued.

"Well I'm glad you're our friend, Vee." My sister said smiling.

"Awe, I love you guys!" She said and hugged us.

"Ooh, mom has a camera in her purse. We should take a picture!" My sister said hopefully. "Mom can I borrow your camera?"

"Um, sure." My mother said and pulled off her large purse then pulled out one of those camera's that developed the film right after you took it.

My sister took the camera and ran in front of everyone then turned around.

"Alie, don't run! You could get hurt!" My mother yelled out.

My sister didn't reply as she turned around and looked through the camera as she walked backwards.

She pushed the button and the camera whirled and slowly spat out a blackened picture that my sister took and shook it a few times then sighed and readied the camera again.

She took the picture and shook it then smiled and ran back towards us. She dropped the picture and it fell to the floor but it started to dance and evade as the wind carried it away.

"Wait!" My sister said as Veronica ran after the picture.

"Vee, don't run into the street!" Mrs. Walker said but her daughter wasn't paying attention.

Veronica jumped into the street and picked the picture up and started walking to us when a van quickly turned on and drove forward and hit Veronica from the side.

Mrs. Walker cried out as Mr. Walker ran forward to check on his daughter. He dropped to his knees and started to reach for Veronica when the van's door opened quickly. Nobody walked out of the van as it stood with its door opened.

Mrs. Walker started running closer to her husband as he looked up at whoever who was in the van. His eyes opened wide and we all flinched when a silenced gun was fired. Mr. Walker fell to the side and didn't move again. His vacant gaze was fixated on me. All I could do was shake as my mother did her best to shield my eyes.

"BILL!" Mrs. Walker shrieked. Her yell was silenced by another van's approach as it charged towards Mrs. Walker, who now stood in the middle of the street.

My father began to run forward, as his limbs started changing into something that resembled a white tiger, and he jumped into all fours and continued running. Faster and faster as his white tiger body parts almost covered his body.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as my father ran on all fours towards the woman in hopes of pushing her out of the way of the rapidly approaching van.

I jerked forward to try and help in any way but my mother yanked me back by the hand.

The woman turned to look at the van as my father reached her. The car was about 18 feet away and was closing that gap quickly.

My father tackled the woman but wasn't able to move her. My father crashed, shoulder first into the woman, but he was unable to move her.

My sense of time returned to normal as the car was five feet away from smashing into my father and the woman.

"William, NO!" My mother yelled and tightened her grip on my hand.

The van hit the pair but stopped. It jerked left and right then finally continued moving slowly forward as the front of the car disintegrated into nothing as it inched closer. A pile of one by one blocks was slowly forming behind my father and Mrs. Walker. The one by one blocks quickly shifted and moved to stack into a continuously growing pyramid.

The pieces stacked neatly as they appeared one on top of others as the pyramid became bigger and deeper. Some of the one by one blocks were bleeding which meant that those random pieces had to be fragments of the driver and even the people that were in the dissolving van.

The white van slowly moved forward, not because someone was driving it forward but because something was pulling it into whatever was cutting it up into one by one blocks.

My father looked at the woman who frowned back as she concentrated. My father stood up and something brushed him aside. The woman looked at my father and said something to him that I wasn't able to hear. She turned to look at the first van and gasped as another silenced gunshot was heard and Mrs. Walker jerked her head back for a second before the rest of the broken white van that she had been destroying screeched then jerked forward and slammed her into the pile of one by one blocks. She didn't move again.

"Oh shit!" My father said as he stood up and stared at the remaining half of the white van. It had cut the woman in half when it slammed her into the pile of one by one blocks. "Oh God, who would do this?"

"William, I didn't know that you were one too. That sucks too; I didn't think that you were akin to these freaks of nature." A voice said from the first van.

A man walked into view and proceeded to lean on the side of the door's opening. I recognized the man. He had helped us and welcomed us and even baby sat my sister and me when we were a little younger.

"Larry... I didn't know that my neighbor was a murderer." My father growled as his animal ears and tail jerked straight up.

"Murderer? What makes you think that I'm a murderer?" Larry, our neighbor, asked in an aristocratic voice.

"Larry, you just killed three people. You just committed murder." My father replied.

"No, no..." Larry started. "Murder is when you kill people, these...these things are not people, and you are not people. I really hate that you're also a monster, William. You were the first neighbor that I got along with in a long while."

"I am not a monster!" My father yelled. People were gathering around now. "I am a person, just like you."

"No, William, you are not a person." Larry replied as he checked to see how many bullets he had in the gun in his left hand. "You and your kind are not people. You were never people and you never will be. A person doesn't have animal parts, a person doesn't disappear or teleport or...break half a truck and pile its remains into tiny blocks." He gestured to the dismantled van on the side. "She killed someone too, William. Four someone's actually...good men too...they had wives and families... Is she a murderer too? They were all good men, all except Randal. He was gay so he didn't have anyone that matters, I'm glad he's dead...saves me the trouble of doing it myself."

"You're insane, Larry!" My father said. "She did that in self defense. She did that to protect herself from your people. She would have done it to you too because of what you did to her family, and you would have deserved it too."

"Yeah well, you have to kill a few freaks before you could cleanse the world of sin." Larry shrugged.

Veronica shifted slightly as she began groaning.

"Bitch isn't dead is she?" Larry said and pointed the gun at Veronica's head.

"No! Leave her alone!" My father said as he jumped on all four and began to run towards Larry.

Larry flinched when he saw my father running towards him and pulled the gun's trigger. The shot missed slightly so he pulled again but his gun got jammed.

My father tackled our neighbor to the wall and punched him in the mid section twice. He then dragged Larry onto the ground and punched him in the face a few times.

I jerked my hand free from my mother and she quickly grabbed my other arm.

"Mom, I have to help dad!" I yelled.

"No, Richard!" My mother said. "You're going to get hurt; your father would want you to stay with me... Oh God have mercy on us all..."

A second man walked out of the van and quickly walked over to my dad and kicked him in the midsection once. My father flinched then scratched the man's midsection with his right paw. The man stepped backwards as he held himself to try and stop the blood from flowing.

Another man stepped out and pointed a rifle at my father and pulled the trigger but stared when the gun didn't fire.

"Mom, I have to go! They're trying to hurt dad!" I said as I pulled my hand free while turning into a white tiger and ran towards my father. I jumped onto the back of the man with the rifle and bit into his right arm as a hard as I could. He shook wildly in hope of throwing me off but I dug my claws into his rib cage and bit him again. He cried out and shifted the rifle back and pointed its firing end at me. I barely had enough time to move before he pulled the trigger. I bit into his neck and blood flew out and hit my face. The man fell down and I jumped off to see my father hit the floor.

My father rolled over as Larry shot at the floor where my father had been. My father stood up and I surged forward and bit the man's hand that held the gun.

Larry yelled as he dropped the gun and stared at me as I hung onto his hand by my fangs. He punched me into the forehead as hard as he could with his free hand and I let go and fell to the floor.

I blinked a few times as the world stopped spinning. A man ran up to my father and held him in a head lock as a sharp pain in my midsection jerked me forward enough to see Larry standing on top of me.

"Mother fucker! You bit my hand! You piece of shit! I'll kill you!" He yelled as he held the gun on his good hand and held it in front of me.

Larry's head jerked forward as the man that held my dad began to yell. I looked back and saw my mother standing behind the man who held my father in the head lock. My mother held my sister, who was now in white tiger form, up to the man's back as my sister used her hands and feet to claw at the man's back as fast as she could.

A pool of blood quickly piled under the man as my sister's claws tore the man's back wide open. The man finally opened his arms to let go of my father and fell to the floor and jerked left and right as he cried out.

My father turned and smiled at his wife. A silenced gunshot was heard and my sister shifted as blood gushed out the side of her chest. The bullet went through my sister and into my mother's chest.

My mother dropped my sister and hit the floor and shifted slightly. My sister rolled around and cried out at the pain.

"Mom!" I yelled and started standing up as Larry stomped on my face.

"Pamela!" My father cried out as he moved and knelt next to my mother.

Everyone stood still as my mother coughed blood from her mouth.

"Oh God, Pam..." My father said as tears began to fall.

"Wi-William... Alie... Is Alie okay?" My mother gasped out then coughed wildly.

My father stared at my sister who lay on her side as she held herself.

"She'll be fine; my baby girl's a fighter..." My father said.

"Good... Will... I love you... It hurts..." My mother said.

My sister dragged herself next to my mother and wrapped herself around her arm.

"Mommy... Why is this happening?" She asked.

"It's...my time, baby... Tell Richard that I love him... I know that he's in school... Isn't he?" She asked in something barely higher than a whisper.

My father nodded slowly his head as tears filled his eyes. "Yes, baby, he's safe... I love you baby... I'm so sorry..."

"William... You're home... I made you some pork chops... Just like you like them." My mother said as she became more and more delusional. "Kiss me baby..."

My father sniffed loudly and kissed my mother who wasn't moving after he released his lips from hers.

"Daddy... Is mommy going to be okay?" My sister asked as she cried then began to cough blood.

My father didn't reply he simply wept over my mother's body.

"Hmm..." Started Larry. "It seems that I missed the little one."

My father began to shake and lowered my mother gently then jumped back and fell on all fours and roared as loud as he could. Glass and windows from the nearest shops and cars shattered at the sound. A lot of the people who had gathered were on their cell phone, some called the police while others relayed what was happening to whoever was on the other end. Some people dropped their cell phones as they hissed and flew open as the battery and circuits inside exploded at my father's howl.

It was an unnatural sound, the sound of a man who just lost the woman he loved.

My father stopped and surged forward on all fours. Larry flinched and fumbled the gun in his hand then aimed at as fast as he could. He fired but ended up hitting a random woman in the background. He finally trained the gun on my father as he came closer. My father was enraged but would still not be able to survive a bullet to the head. I sat up as fast as I could and bit into the first thing I could find that belonged to Larry, it just happened to be his manly region.

Larry cried out, an awkward yell, and pulled the trigger but missed my father completely. My father finally got close enough to jump and tackle the man off his feet. I felt the part that was in my mouth rip off as he flew backwards. I spat out Larry's junk and stood up but quickly fell back down as I still wasn't back to my normal self. I looked back to see my sister trying to shake my mother awake with one hand as she held her bleeding wound with the other. My sister cried and shook my mother until she collapsed from the loss of blood.

I looked back to see my father as he repeatedly head butted our neighbor. Larry dropped the gun and stood there as my father attacked him.

My father kneed him in the chest and threw him down before picking his head up by his hair and smashing it onto the concrete while he snarled and growled like a tiger.

Larry lay on the ground as he bled from several cuts in his chest and face and groin. My father knelt down and turned him over then stopped suddenly as a random man from the audience had come forward and stabbed him through the midsection with a hunting knife.

My father howled and elbowed the man as hard as he could, which made his head turn an almost 90 degrees. The man fell and some more people came forward to attack my father. More people who hated our kind. My father howled loudly and they all stopped. He then looked down at Larry who now had the gun in his hand again.

Larry chuckled once with his bruised and beaten mouth and shot my father in the midsection three times before his gun finally announced it was empty.

My father stood on top of Larry as he refused to fall. The random people who tried helping our neighbor slowly moved forward as my father dropped to his knees and swayed for a second of two before he jerked his head up and stared at the people who gasped loudly and stepped back. My father coughed out blood and grinned with his blood stained teeth. He jerked his head down and bit into Larry's chest as hard as he could. Larry cried out once then stopped as he finally lay still. My father raised his head and showed the heart, which he had removed from Larry's body, then bit down and tossed the useless muscle aside.

He grinned then fell sideways as a woman hit him with a two by four.

"You fucking monster!" The woman yelled as she hit my father with the two by four two more times.

I tried standing up but a man forced my pawed hands behind me.

"You freaks are dead!" He hissed into my ear.

The woman hit my father a few more times as he lay on the ground and breathed loudly. "You freaks are going to die one by one!" She said as she raised the bloody two by four and swung it at my father.

A gunshot was heard and the woman quickly dropped the two by four and fell sideways and lay still as a blood oozed out of a bullet hole on her head.

People cried out as two more shots were heard. A man held a crowbar in his hands as he ran towards my father as he yelled. He swung at my father and fell forward as another shot was heard.

A man in military uniform walked out of the crowd and stood by my father as he looked around. He turned around and looked at everyone. He finally stared at me and at the man holding my arms back.

"Let him go." The man said. It took me a few seconds before I remembered who the man was. It was Sergeant Robert Grayson, the same man that had the fender bender with my mother a few days ago.

"No, go fuck yourself G.I Freak." The man behind me said and pulled on my arm.

"Oh well, I tried. Get him Fiona." Grayson said.

I felt some static run down my arms as the man let go. I turned around and saw the man shaking and rolling around in the floor as electricity ran through him.

The mousy woman in the lab coat that was with Grayson stood there as static flickered around her fingers. Her hair frizzed and was erect for a few seconds until she lowered her hand.

"I'm not your guard dog, Robert." The woman said.

"No, you're not, but you are my assistant." Grayson said and knelt next to my father.

Paramedics arrived at last but stayed away for a few seconds before Grayson waved them over.

"I'm going to die aren't I?" My father asked asking Grayson when I stepped closer.

"Most likely..." Grayson said and wiped some of the blood off my father's lips.

"Can... You do me a favor? Man to man?" My father asked.

"Anything." Grayson said to my dying father.

I ran towards my father and knelt next to him as I wrapped my hands around his.

"There's a family named Talbain in a town called Erorala... Can you take my children there?" My father asked.

"Sure, where is... Never mind. The paramedics are here. I'll go get your daughter." Grayson said as he walked off.  
>Three paramedics lifted my father into a stretcher as Grayson gently lifted my sister into his arms and placed her in another stretcher.<p>

"Richard... I need you to be strong." My father coughed out as he lay in the stretcher inside of the ambulance, the knife still in his midsection. "Your sister needs you. I probably won't make it through this but I want you to help that army man to find the Talbains, remember those kids that you were playing with when you were younger?"

I nodded as I couldn't stop crying.

"Those are some nice people, you be good and listen to what they say. And help the army man in any way that you can."

Grayson walked up as his ironed and professionally worn uniform was covered in my sister's blood. He had cut off part of his right pant leg and wrapped it around my sister's chest to try and stop the bleeding. He smiled and started closing the doors.

"They're taking you to the hospital, be strong. They're also taking that other girl. Hold on, my friend." Grayson said as he closed the doors.

-00-

"Your grandfather died that night." I said to the people who listened to my story.

Erika, Poe's girlfriend, was crying as I told the story.

"He died half an hour after he arrived in the hospital. The hunting knife went through one of his kidneys while the bullets punctured his stomach and right lung. He should have died then but he was somehow able to go on. His last words were-"

"Take care of your sister." Alexandria started. "Make sure that she grows up big and strong." She wiped a few tears from her eyes as Ray hugged her close. "I was conscious when dad talked to you for the last time, Richard."

I nodded. "He also reached up and began talking to mom... He kept saying that he was ready. His hair flicked slightly and he finally passed away."

"That is sad... What happened next?" Desirée asked as she sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes with her arm.

"That... Is a story for another night, it's two AM. We should go to sleep." I said and stood up to stretch but stopped when the outdoor ceiling fan crashed into my right hand.

"Oh no, is it really?" Erika asked as she stood up and checked her cell phone's clock. "Mom and dad are going to kill me..."

"I'll drive you home and explain what happened." I said and handed Erika her purple coat.


	3. Chapter III: A Father Figure

_Chapter III_: **A Father Figure**

"I'm sorry, son. This can't be easy on you." Grayson said when he sat by the side of my bed.

Six weeks had passed since I became an orphan. My mother and father are dead and my sister is in and out of a coma. She had been shot and the dramatic nature of my parents' death sent her into shock. It has a hard time for me all of us. In a single day, our worlds got turned around. Everyone we knew and loved got killed by one man who hated our kind deeply. My father never intended on killing him, I'm sure of it. But he was forced to towards the end.

Veronica was also hospitalized. She was up but they didn't let her walk around as some her bones where fractured, if not broken, from being hit by that van.

My sister was under intense care as the doctors didn't know why all the medicine, they gave my sister, always had a rebound effect. Grayson got into an argument with the dean of medicine when she told him that she was going to release my sister and friend from her care, even though my sister's condition wasn't any better. When Grayson asked why, she simply said four words: because they're dark ones.

Grayson threatened to sue but ended up taking my sister to the military base where she got treatment by a military doctor, who was able to cure soldiers by what seemed like magic. The doctor healed my sister but she said that she might have secondary effects, which she couldn't do anything about, because of my parents' death. Grayson moved us into his bunker that he shared with two other guys and a hamster named Colin.

"Your sister will come around." Grayson continued as he patted my back gently. "She's a fighter. Once she accepts what happened, she'll be out and about."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yeah! I do." He said and looked up at the Hispanic man laying in the bed and talking with his wife on his cell phone. "Jesus, there, got his hand ripped off by a bear a few months back and Gina was able to use her powers to put it back on again. I just wish he did more productive things, with that hand, other than himself."

I wasn't actually paying attention as I the doors opened and three people walked in. Two saluted while the third pushed forward as Grayson stood up and walked over. He saluted the men and began to talk.

"Sergeant, you can't keep children here." The third man said. "I know you and the fact that you get emotionally attached to things so..."

"Major, I understand that, but they're simply children. What would you have me do? Abandoned them on the streets? Take them for a drive and drop them off twenty miles from the nearest town?" Grayson asked in a tone that sounded as much rational as it did angry.

"Grayson. I don't care what you do, they can't stay here." The man said. "Once the girl gets better, you need to send them on their way, there's an adequate orphanage just outside of Round Rock. It's..."

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not leaving these children to some Baptist children home. The girl wouldn't be adopted as she would need some attention. They wouldn't see each other again. I made a promise to their father, I promised that-"

"That is none of your concern, Major. I want these kids out of here by the end of the month." The man said and turned around after he shot me a menacing glare and started walking away.

Grayson beamed red as his hands shook with rage. He shook his head before looking up.

"Is that what Susanna would do?" Grayson asked.

The man stopped and stood there for a few seconds then sighed heavily.

"Grayson... I hate that you know so much about me...both professionally and personally... Do whatever you want, I don't care." He said and walked away. The two other men followed.

Three months passed and I was getting used to life in a military base. Lieutenant Spears, an army man that sleeps next to my bunk, showed me how to fire a gun for my birthday three days ago, I was now twelve. Veronica came and saw me regularly when the medical staff let her out. She walked on crutches as her left foot was in a cast, and would be for another week or two. My sister was up now but they didn't let her leave bed for anything other than going to use the rest room.

I played basketball with some of the 18 and 19 year old soldiers as the day slowly came to an end. The baby blue skies were not a blend of reds and yellows, which was nice to see but didn't help any with the fact that my team was 16 points behind. Veronica sat on the side as she watched us play basketball.

A siren went off for a second then cut off as it announced that it was time for lunch so we stopped playing. I said bye to the soldiers and they all replied similarly and took off jogging to the cafeteria. I walked over to Veronica and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" I asked in a voice that sounded as if I had a frog down my throat, Grayson said that I was becoming a man. Not sure what that meant.

"I'm better, look." She said and stretched her bandaged foot and bent it at the knee. The bone cracked and she gasped slightly but was able to move it as she wanted after that.

"Awesome!" I let out.

Veronica giggled. "You sound weird, are you sick?"

"No, Grayson says that I'm changing. I'll have to ask him what that means tonight." I said and helped her to her feet.

She struggled slightly and I finally ended up giving her a piggy back ride to the medical ward.

"Hey, Alie!" I said when I walked in with Veronica sitting on my shoulders.

"Hey guys!" She said and shifted slightly.

I let Veronica down and started to go back to the cafeteria for enough food for the three of us when Gina, the medic, walked up and handed me two out of the four bowls of soup that she had been juggling from the kitchen.

"Thanks Mrs. Ochoa" Alie said when I handed her the first plate.

"You're welcomed, Alexandria." She said and placed a plate on my lap.

She hated being called Mrs. Ochoa for two reasons.

One: she wasn't married. And two: she preferred to keep things informal. That way she could tell the soldiers to stop being babies whenever they accidentally shot themselves in the leg. But she let my sister called her "Mrs." maybe because she was sick or maybe because, even though she was only ten going on eleven, she was another female to talk to.

We all ate and talked until it was time for bed. Gina said that she wanted me here tomorrow around noon as she was going to let Alie walk around to see if she was going to have muscle atrophy. A agreed and kissed my sister on the forehead then hugged her and said goodnight.

"I'm not going to get sick, am I?" Alie asked, playfully.

"Richard, you're sick? Let me take a look at you." Gina said.

"No I'm not sick; Grayson says that I'm becoming a man." I replied.

"Sounds like your sick to me... Mom would have agreed." Alie said. And to everyone's surprise; she didn't burst into tears afterwards.

"He's not sick; he's just going through puberty." Gina said.

"What's that?" Alie and I asked together.

Gina sighed then stood up and put on her sweater. I couldn't help myself but stare as she did. There was something...exciting about it. "I'll tell you guys about it later. You two need to go to bed. Veronica, do you want me to walk you to the women's dorms again?"

"I'll walk her there, Gina." I said and helped Veronica up from her seat.

"Thank you, Richard." Gina said and stacked the plates on top of the vital sigh machine.

I walked slowly by Veronica's side as we headed towards the woman's bunk.

"So what do you think will happen after I'm done with this puberty thing?" I asked.

"I don't know... Are you bleeding from somewhere? Mom said that we bleed when we're going through it." Veronica said.

I looked at my hands and feet but didn't see anything that resembled blood. Veronica checked my hair and back but still no sigh of anything out of the ordinary.

"What are you two doing?" Dana, the only other woman in the base, asked. Veronica shared her bunk with two other women: Gina Ochoa, the medic, and Dana Wilson, a staff Sergeant.

"We're checking for blood." I said as Veronica looked under my armpits.

"Blood? Are you hurt?" Dana asked, with little concern in her voice.

"No, I'm becoming a man and Veronica says that her mom told her that we bleed...I don't see anything, do you?" I said.

Veronica shook her head when she checked inside of my mouth.

"You're a boy...you don't bleed." She said then mumbled something that sounded like "lucky bastards."

-0-

I stood on all fours, behind a hastily drawn starting line, with my sister on my side. We were both in our white tiger forms. It has been two months and July was six days away from ending.

My sister casually mentioned that she could beat me in a race. When I laughed at her, someone bet that she couldn't then someone else said that she could. It only took five minutes to have half the base placing bets.

"Get ready!" Someone yelled out as I stretched my rear legs one more time. My sister rotated her neck once and looked straight forward.

"Steady!"

"Go!" He yelled and shot once at the floor.

We took off running on all fours as we gained momentum. My sister had made a full recovery in less than a month when Gina decided that my sister didn't have any muscle atrophy. I only agreed to race her because she hasn't had too much exercise and this would help some. Plus, there was no way she could beat me.

I jumped onto the side of the woman's dorms and pushed back as I ran right behind my sister. I passed her when we turned the corner and headed back around to where we started. We circled as I led by almost half a second.

People cheered as I came at them. They all stopped cheering suddenly and opened through the ranks. At first, I thought that they were splitting for me, I then noticed someone standing right where the race beginning was.

I tried stopping but I had too much momentum so I tripped and rolled over until I finally stopped as I lay on my back and smiled as I stared up at Grayson. My sister started to yell something then stopped when she came close enough and looked up at Grayson then hunched slightly, so her head seemed to start to melt inside of her body, and smiled at him sheepishly.

Grayson had become somewhat of a father figure to us, almost as Gina had become a type of mother figure. He had made himself be in charge of us, by choice, and rewarded us when we were good and punished us when we were bad.

He punished Alie and me in two ways after the in-concluded race.

One: he made us clean the toilets in both the male and female bathrooms and urinals on the males.

And two: he led us there by attaching a collar and leash around our necks and made us walk there on all fours in front of everyone. He said that if we're going to act like animals then he was going to treat us like animals. And if we wanted to perform tricks, and amuse others, then he could make the time to show us how to beg, roll over and fetch for people's amusement.

I was in my human form again as I sat by a urinal as I cleaned it with an old toothbrush. Alie was cleaning the urinal next to me.

"Do you think that he's still mad at us?" Alie asked.

"No... He just wanted to let us know that he doesn't want us to act like fools." I said and dipped the toothbrush into a bucket that had water and a pink soap.

"I feel bad... I didn't want him getting mad at us." Alie said.

"I know. It'll be okay. We'll just apologize when he comes for us." I said.

"I miss mom and dad..." Alie said and sniffed once.

"I do too..." I replied and wanted to say something when a large man came in.

"Hey, kids. Umm...sorry to do this to you but I've got to... Oh God!" He cried out as his stomach made all sorts of disgusting noises as he ran into one of the stills and hastily unbuckled his pants while passing gas and groaning.

"Ew!" Alie let out and dropped the toothbrush and made her way out as the man went at it with full force.

"Damn, man. How about a courtesy flush." I sighed as I started walking out.

"There's no paper..." The man said as I stepped outside.

"I'm gonna be scarred for life now." Alie said disgustedly.

"What are you kids doing out? Are you done?" Grayson said as he walked closer while holding a plastic bag.

"No, private Longfist is in there." I said.

Grayson started saying something then stopped and thought about it. "That works for me, you two won't ever do it again right?"

"Do what again? Be cleaning the bathrooms while he comes in?" I asked. As Longfist was in there dropping bombs. "Or act like fools?"

"Either. But the ladder is what I'm talking about." Grayson said. "You kids are my responsibility while you're here and therefore I have to protect and teach you. Some people here see our kind as nothing more than dirt and scum and I didn't like the fact that people as hastily bet on both of you as they did."

"Why?" Alie asked. "We weren't offended, it was just something for exorcise and fun."

"Because you're not an animal, Alexandria. Neither of you are. It's not right for them to be betting on you two as it you were race horses or gray hounds..."

I was going to say something when private Longfist called out.

"Can someone bring me some ass paper?" He said.

Grayson sighed and started walking away. Alie and I followed him as Longfist kept calling out. Grayson handed us some wet naps to sanitize out hands then handed each one of us a glass bottle with soda and a large chocolate chip cookie.

"It took a little under four months but we think we found out where Erorala is." Grayson started.

"Six hours north-west from the border?" I asked a little more smartly than I wanted to.

Grayson started to say something then stared at me. "How did you know?" He asked.

"Dad showed us on the map a year or so ago." Alie said as she hit into her cookie. "He said: go to Erorala if something is to happen to us."

"Oh... I guess I could have asked you guys instead of spending hundreds of man hours looking on the Internet for rumors and leads."

Alie and I smiled and couldn't help but laugh.

"You kids are a hand full. Why is that town so secretive? It was almost impossible to find anything about it." Grayson said.

"Because it's a town for people like us. Nobody is scared of us there." I said and pointed at a plane then bit into my sister's cookie when she wasn't looking.

"I see. We're going there tomorrow to see if we could find those people that your father asked me to find."

"The Talbain's those are some nice people. I'm sure they're still there." Alie said.


	4. Chapter IV: Erorala

_Chapter IV_: **Erorala**

My sister and I stared out through her car window to see the sunset as Grayson drove the SUV on the 287 on his way out of Texas. It was 7:48 at night on this pre summer night.

Fiona, Grayson's assistant, turned on the car's front light to read the road map she had in front of her.

"Are you sure it's this way?" She asked. "It's not on the map."

"For the eight time, Fiona, it's there." Grayson said as he sped up on the highway.

"Stay on highway 287 North and enter Oklahoma in sixty six and a half miles." The automated voice on the GPS said

"I know! You said that already, you fu…stupid machine!" Fiona yelled at the machine. "Where did you get this intel anyway?" She asked Grayson.

"Classified." Grayson replied.

"The classified section?"

"No, that information is classified."

"Level?"

"Orange."

"Okay."

"What's orange?" My sister asked as she shoved Veronica's sleeping head away.

"It's a fruit." Fiona replied.

"No, really." My sister said.

"You're telling me it's not a fruit?" Fiona said, smiling.

"It's a classification level; the redder it is the more secret it is." Grayson said.

"You're no fun." Fiona said.

"I'm hungry." I complained.

"Hi, Hungry, how are you doing?" Grayson asked with an unpracticed smile. Fiona stated at him.

"That is the first thing that is even remotely close to funny, that you've ever said." Fiona said.

"I'm not that boring, am I?" Grayson asked.

Fiona stared at him but didn't answer. "Get off here."

Grayson flinched then turned the car sharply to make the exit.

"Turn here." Fiona repeated.

Grayson turned into a small time burger restaurant named Burger and parked by the door.

"Make u-turn and get back on highway 287 towards Oklahoma." The GPS said and Fiona lifted her hand as if to punch the machine then stopped herself.

"This doesn't look like Erorala." Grayson said as Fiona got out of the car.

"Huh...how about that." Fiona said. "Well, since we're here, we might as well eat."

"I'm hungry." I repeated and unbuckled my seatbelt then noticed Veronica who was still asleep as her head wobbled slowly to show the small saliva drooling out of her mouth.

My sister laughed and shook Veronica but she didn't wake up.

"Leave her; she'll join us inside when she wakes." Grayson said and closed his car door quietly.

We walked in and headed towards the ordering booth.

"Hey, Fiona." The guy over the counter said.

"Shaun, how are you?" Fiona said and hugged the man who jumped over the counter to hug her.

"Great, you look different." The man said. "I guess that hanging out with that old and boring military tool has taken its toll on you."

"Oh that reminds me." Fiona said and turned around and gestured to the man. "Everyone, this is my brother, Shaun. Shaun this is the old and boring military tool you were talking about."

Shaun immediately straightened up and began to stutter. "Oh, h-h-h-hello, Mr... Uh Grayson right? It's an honor to meet you."

Grayson smiled politely and shook his hand. Shaun beamed red and chuckled until he noticed me and Alexandria standing next to Fiona.

"These are the kids you were talking about?" He asked.

"Yeah. We're taking them to Ero-" Fiona started but her brother covered her mouth as an old woman turned to look at them.

"Shh, follow me." He said and led us all into the men's bathroom.

It was a good sized bathroom with three stalls and two urinals as well as a long window at the end.

"Most people here have been looking for that town. Some people hate Darkstalkers, you know." Shaun said as he lit a cigarette.

His sister took the cigarette from his brother's lips and placed it into hers and inhaled deeply then blew out the smoke. She held the cigarette out towards the man then pulled it back and dropped it into a sink and turned the water on.

"Smoking is bad for you." She said.

Her brother scoffed and folded his arms.

"How do we get to Erorala?" Grayson asked.

Shaun took ten minutes explaining how to get there. He was low on detail but said that there should be a green Honda 20 minutes away from a "Restricted araea" sign that was misspelled on purpose to scare off regular people and to be a marker for people who needed shelter in the town. There will be a couple guards in a booth through this way but just show him your membership and he'll let you through.

"You want him to drop his pants?" Fiona asked.

"Sure if he wants, but I was actually talking about you guys showing that you're Darkstalkers to the guards."

"How long of a drive?" Grayson asked as he wrote down the directions on his hand. Fiona scoffed and took the pen from Grayson and pulled out a green note pad and copied the directions.

"Five to six hours… ten minutes if you let my sister drive." Shaun said. "But don't tell anyone. Most people have been looking for the town for years and can't get a whisper out of anyone."

"How do you know about it?" Grayson asked.

"His ex-wife lives there." Fiona said.

"Gotcha." Grayson said.

"Just make sure nobody hears you discussing it." Shaun said. "Don't worry about Rudy, he's cool."

"Who's Rudy?" Fiona asked.

Someone knocked from the stool at the very end. "I won't tell anyone, if you get me some paper." The man in the stool named Rudy said.

Shaun opened another stool and pulled out a good amount of paper from the roll and threw it over to the stool that the man was occupying.

"Thanks."

We walked out of the bathroom and ordered some food then sat down on an orange and blue bench. It took about five minutes to get our food and about twice as long to make it disappears.

We were on the road about thirty minutes after we entered the restaurant named "Burger" and made our way to Erorala, and hopefully to the Talbains.

"Merge into the-" The GPS's female voice started and Fiona started pushing buttons at random to make it shut up. The GPS lagged for a second then defaulted back to the main screen. "Continuez sur l'autoroute 287 en direction d'Oklahoma." The now male voice said in French.

Fiona started saying something as she raised her hand to strike the machine then stopped and relaxed.

"Mmm I'm liking this one." Fiona said as she caressed her neck.

"What did you do to my GPS?" Grayson asked as he tried changing the settings.

"No leave it alone!" Fiona said as then slapped Grayson's hand. "I fixed it. Robert I'm borrowing your GPS when we get back."

Veronica finally woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Are we there yet?"

"No." Grayson replied.

"You know... That was a perfect set-up for a laugh and you messed it up." Fiona complained then sighed passionately as the GPS said something.

-0-

I yawned loudly as we passed the sign that read "Restricted araea next 50 miles." We drove on a dirt road that shook the car once in a while. We drove for about ten minutes before a blindingly white light shone directly at us.

Two men dressed in camo uniforms walked up to the SUV as Grayson lowered the windows.

The two men looked us over without saying anything.

"We're looking for Erorala." Grayson said.

"Mmhmm." The second man said and looked back at us.

"There is no town by that name, sir." The first man said. "Turn back around, this is a restricted area."

"Shaun sent us." Grayson said. Fiona sighed and face palmed.

"Who is Shaun?" The first man asked.

"Plan b." Grayson said. "We're Darkstalkers."

"Funny. Turn back around or we will have you all arrested for trespassing." The second man said.

"I'm a general in the U.S. Army! I wouldn't lie about any of this, plus I'm pretty sure I outrank you, in all aspects, soldier." Grayson practically yelled.

The second man pulled out a hand gun and aimed it at Grayson.

"Just show them your membership." Fiona said as she stared at the man. She had taught me a few things about guns in the months that we spent in the base. I was able to recognize things like specific gun models, which this one was a Desert Eagle with its safety still on.

"You're not going to pull your pants down? Nobody wants to see that." The second man said.

"Fine." Said Grayson and looked at both men. "You gun guy. You need to tell the six other people inside of the booth to lift the gate."

The first man raised an eye brow and looked towards the spotlight that should have blocked our vision completely.

"How did you know that there were six people there?" The first man asked, not lowering his gun.

"There are four men and two women." Grayson said as he looked into the blinding spotlight. He smiled as he stared back at the man who pointed the gun at him.

"Let me see." The first man said, more of a command than a request.

Grayson shifted his head slightly and a third eye opened on his forehead. He took his hands off the steering wheel and revealed that he now had an eye in each hand. All five of his eyes, the three on his head and two on his hands, all moved in unison, between both men.

"I can make more appear but it gets unpleasant after this." Grayson said.

"Welcome general." The first man said as he lowered his hands and gave a signal to the people in the booth.

The light dimmed until it only illuminated the car.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness again but when it did, I was able to see the four men and two women inside and near the booth.

"Are you all members?" The second man said.

"Yes." Grayson said then signaled at Fiona. "She controls electrical currents."

"And the tanned ones in the back are white tigers while the blond manipulates shadows." Fiona added.

"Thank you." The first man said. "Erorala is about five minutes away. Turn right as soon as the cliff ends."

"Thank you." Grayson said and drove forward.

We passed the booth slowly as a speed bump was in place. I noticed the people that stared at us as we passed: the four men looked normal but one of the women was hanging upside down from the booth's roof.

We drove on and turned right when the cliff ended and Grayson laughed out when we saw the sign that read:

Erorala  
>Town limits<br>Population: 418

We drove around as we looked for someone who was still up at this late hour.

"It's three AM, Robert. We should find a motel or something." Fiona said.

"Good idea." Grayson said as he looked back and saw me rubbing my eyes. Veronica and my sister were trying their best to keep their eyes opened and their heads up but were slowly giving in.

We drove into a motel that was called "Fyra Tailed Räv Motell", 24 hour service.

"I think that's German..." Fiona said.

"No, it's Finnish" Grayson said.

"No...It might be a language they speak here in town." Fiona suggested as Grayson parked the car in an empty space and turned the car off.

We walked out and I stretched then helped Alexandria and Veronica out.

"Richard, can you go see if there's someone in the window?" Grayson asked as he stretched.

"Sure." I said and walked over to the window and saw a 16 or 17 year old girl sitting on a folding chair with her back to me as she talked on the phone and looked at an old episode of Seinfeld.

I was about to tap on the window but stopped as I stared at the four furry tails that came out of her lower back and passed the opening on the folding chair. The four tails waved, up and down, slowly as she talked on the phone.

"Like, yeah Rena." The girl said. "We should go...Sunday...then Monday."

I let my white tiger ears form out of my head as I heard the person on the other end of the phone, with my enhanced hearing.

"Who goes to the movies on a Monday?" Rena, on the other end of the phone asked.

"We do!" The girl said.

"Ezra...hold on...turn around." Rena said over the other side of the phone.

The girl named Ezra stopped and quickly turned around to look at me. I smiled politely as she stood up quickly then gasped out as her tails lifted the chair along with her. She shifted and was finally able to free her tails from the chair.

"I hate it when you do that, I'll call you back." Ezra said and hung up the phone. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, didn't mean to interrupt." I started. "Can we rent..." I started then looked back at Grayson. "How many rooms?"

"One." Grayaon said.

"Sure, you guys sleep in the car." Fiona suggested.

"Why?" Grayson asked.

"Us girls aren't sharing a room with you guys." Fiona replied.

"Fine, Richard get two rooms." Grayson said as he pulled out our toothbrushes.

"Can I get two?" I asked Ezra, the girl behind the counter.

"Sure, can your dad come over and let me see his credit card and ID?" The girl said as she moved the mouse on her computer to wake it up.

"Oh, he's not my dad." I said and waved Grayson over.

"Oh, sorry." The girl said as she bent down slightly. I was able to make out small fox like ears on top of her head.

"She needs your credit card." I told Grayson when he came close.

Grayson flinched slightly when he saw the four tails behind the girls back then pulled out his wallet and placed the credit card on the counter next to the girl who thanked him and slid it on the reader after a few seconds.

"Two rooms, bathrooms included." The girl read off the screen. "Comes to $89.98."

"Okay." Grayson said as he signed a receipt that the girl handed over.

Fiona came over and saw which room keys were given to us. She took the key card to room 27 while Grayson took the one for 28.

"What does your sign say?" Fiona asked the girl.

"Fyra Tailed Räv Motell?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, what does that mean?" Fiona continued.

The girl turned around and pointed at her four tails. "It's Swedish for: Four Tailed Fox Motel. My dad named the motel after my breed." The girl said as the four tails waved slowly.

We walked back as the girls answered her phone before it rang and continued her conversation.

Grayson and I took some blankets into both rooms as I saw a car pass by with a man as the driver, a woman with what looked like blue hair and two kids in the back seat (a boy and a girl). I wasn't able to see them correctly but they seemed familiar somehow.

"What is it?" Grayson asked as he walked passed me while holding some covers in his arms.

"Nothing." I said and handed my sister her purple blanket and sleeping clothes.

We all said goodnight and headed into our rooms. I sat on one of the beds as I heard Fiona tucking the girls into bed as Grayson took a shower. The room was probably no bigger than 400 square feet. It had enough room for the beds and a dresser at the end that held a medium sized television set and a calendar on the backside of the door.

"I'm sorry." A voice said.

I turned around and saw a boy standing half way through the wall that separated rooms 28 and 29.

"Is this room 11?" The boy asked as he looked around.

"No, it's 28." I replied.

"Okay, thanks." He said and disappeared back into the wall and through the empty rooms.

I stared then remembered that this must be a normal occurrence in Erorala. I didn't remember much of anything about this town as I was 5 the last time I was here. I remember a few kids that I played with once or twice during a winter night when they shot fireworks into the sky. I remember a rabbit girl, a brown and black dog boy, a blue and white and black werewolf boy, a raven girl, a cat girl and a set of twin boys who could move between blue and red portals that they made appear. But that was it…the town still seemed alien to me.

"Don't worry about the girls, Richard." Grayson said as he walked out of the bathroom wearing a new pair of shorts as he dried himself with a towel.

"I'm not; I'm trying to remember this place." I said.

"You were here when you were what? Four? Five?" He asked.

"Five." I said.

"Well it's hard to remember anything from when you were five. Except if you're Fiona, she remembers just about everything in her life." Grayson said.

"Quit talking about me!" Fiona said from the other room.

"Woman, go to sleep." Grayson said.

"Don't 'woman' me, man." Fiona yelled back.

Grayson laughed, "Goodnight, Fiona."

"Night, Robert." Fiona replied.

"We should get some sleep." Grayson said and sat on his bed.

He stretched and punched me in the arm slightly then lay on his bed, turned the light off and then covered himself.

"Grayson, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure." He replied.

"Why are we here? Are you really just going to try and find this family and drop the three of us off?"

"That's the plan."

"Oh..."

"It's not like I don't want you kids around, I do, Richard. But I'm no good as a father. I've only been able to do what I do because of inspirational and instructional videos on the internet. I don't want you kids to leave but a military base isn't any place for thirteen and twelve year olds."

"What if we want to stay with you?"

"Richard, I promised your father that I would do my best to take you to the Talbains and that's what I plan on doing."

"Then I won't stay with them. I'll stay with you."

"And leave your friend and sister behind?"

I didn't reply.

Grayson sighed and shifted slightly.

"If we can't find the Talbains, or if they won't or can't have you then I'll take you kids back... Don't tell anyone this but I'm being shipped out to another state. There's a pharmaceutical building that the military wants to use for research and I'm to be in charge of certain matters there. If this doesn't work out then I'll take you guys there and have you help me."

I smiled. "Okay." I said and rolled over on my bed and covered myself then pulled out my earphones from my cassette player and played some rock music as Grayson began snoring.

There is a reason why there are only two other men who sleep in the same bunker as Grayson and me. His snoring could wake a dead man.

"What the hell is that?" Veronica asked from the other room.

"Sounds like snoring..." Alie replied.

-00-

"So you guys were looking for Aunt Lilian and Uncle Jonathan back then? That is so cool!" Joanna asked me as we all sat on the kitchen table to eat dinner the following night. Poe had invited his girlfriend, Erika, over again so she could hear the end of the tale.

"Yeah, I didn't know them then. You see... Jonathan and Lilian's parents used to live there. They moved to where they live now when I was thirteen. The man and woman and children I saw were actually them as they drive off on their last visit after they left. They had visited a couple by the name of Phall that they had given away the house that was given to them."

"So then what happened? You guys weren't able to find them could you?" Desirèe asked as she shook her head slightly so her many earrings made slight chiming noises.

"I'm getting to that." I said with a mouth full of roast beef.

-00-

I heard birds tweeting loudly outside as they announced that it was morning. I looked at the clock on the wall as it read 7:28. It was a little late for birds to sing but I got up none the less.

I walked up for the window and closed it then noticed the birds that were tweeting.

Both birds had nice long red feathers and a slim beak. Their talons wrapped around medium sized branches that supported the 210ish pound birds that were half human.

I snapped awake as a woman walked out with a broom and walk up to the bird guys and tried scaring the two male bird people who tweeted.

"Ezra, why do you think you could scare us with a broom?" The first bird boy said.

"Scare you? Who said I was trying to scare you? Hold still." Ezra said and pulled the brook back and hit the first bird boy who blocked with his left wing.

"Ow, what are you doing?" He asked as he defended two or three more blows.

"This is for cheating on Rena. She called me last night and we talked till four AM! I need my beauty sleep, Arnold. You see these dark circles on my eyes?" Ezra pointed at her eyes.

The bird boy leaned forward slightly and Ezra hit him in the head with her broom.

"Ow! Stop that!" The boy said as the other bird boy next to him chuckled. "Listen! Tell Rena that I'm sorry. Someone brought beer and I've never drank before."

"Tell her yourself!" Ezra said and walked back on the other side of the office building and pulled out a garden hose.

Both bird boys tried flying away as Ezra sprayed the first bird boy with water and made him hit the ground. He tried flapping his soaked wings as Ezra kept spraying him until he was out of reach and in the air with some difficulty. Ezna ran after him and tossed the broom as high as she could but missed the boy named Arnold.

"Is it, six o clock yet?" Grayson asked as he stretched awake.

"No, it's seven thirty." I replied.

"What happened to the alarm?" Grayson asked.

"It rang twice but you slept through it." I said.

"Today is Saturday right?" Grayson asked.

"Uh...yes." I replied as I saw the calendar on the door.

"People sleep late on Saturday right."

"Normal people do."

"I'm going back to sleep."

"Good idea." I said as I saw Ezra knock on the door to room 11 and remind the people in there about the wakeup call they requested.

I went back to bed and fell asleep.

-0-

"I'm coming!" I heard Grayson say as someone knocked on the door. I yawned but still lay on my bed.

Grayson opened the door and Fiona stood on the other side. Her hair was a mess and it was apparent that she didn't sleep at all last night.

"What's wrong?" Grayson asked.

"I've got to use your bathroom; Alie is taking one of her famous half hour showers." Fiona said as she walked in.

"Good morning." Grayson said in a suggestive tone.

"Morning, you need to do something about your snoring, Robert, it kept me up all night." Fiona said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

"See, son." Grayson started. "This is why you get a girl with manners."

"I heard that!" Fiona said and I couldn't help but smile.

Grayson and I got dressed and started walking out as Fiona was taking a shower and muttering something about the GPS man.

"Do you want me to hold the rooms for you so you could just come in and sleep when you leave?" Ezra said as we walked up to the window.

"Sure." Grayson said and pulled out his credit card.

"I got your card on file, I'll charge it when you come and spend the night, thank you."

"Question: have you heard of the Talbains?" Fiona asked as she drank some coffee.

"Jon, who sometimes answers to Gannon, and Felicia Talbain?" Ezra asked.

"I think so." Fiona said.

"They live or lived in Serene dr, five minutes from here." Ezra replied.

"'Lived'?" Grayson asked.

"I heard that they were moving and I'm not sure if they were going to leave soon or if they already left." Ezra replied. "Need a map to find Serene dr?"

"No, we have GPS." Fiona said.

"Good luck with that." Ezra said and pulled out a map then drew a line between the indication of streets that led between the motel and a house in Serene Dr.

She handed the map over to Grayson and smiled.

We thanked her and walked into the car and drove off.

I held the printed map as I read the house streets and numbers. The town was small enough where all the houses had the family names on there.

1123 S Serene dr: Anderson's.

1121 S Serene dr: Carmon's. The word Carmon's was crossed out and replaced with Gillard's.

1119 S Serene dr: Inaoi's.

I stared at 1117 and felt a chill run down my spine.

1117 S Serene dr: Oblivion's. The word Oblivion's was crossed out and replaced with Talbain's that was also crossed out and replaced with Phall's.

1115 S Serene dr: J'ariso's.

1113 S Serene dr: Fromm's.

1111 S Serene dr: Barbara's. The word Barbara's was crossed out and left empty.

"Right or left on Honeydew?" Grayson asked me. Fiona normally did the navigating but she had crashed a minute after she got into the car.

"Right." I started. "Left on Serene."

I stared out the window as two Bee kids played tag in front of their house.

Two houses down, a lion woman was kneeling in front of her garden and trimming her flowers with her hedge clippers. She turned around as we passed and waved in a friendly way. Grayson and I waved back. Fiona, Alie and Veronica were asleep as Grayson's snoring kept them all up.

"It sure is friendly here." I said. Grayson grunted in agreement.

We finally reached 1117 S Serene dr and stopped outside of the light blue house. It was small but cozy.

Fiona woke up when Grayson turned the ignition to turn the SUV off.

"Is this the place?" Fiona asked while rubbing her eyes.

"Looks that way." Grayson replied. "Right Richard?"

"1117 S Serene dr." I replied and handed the map over to Fiona.

"Yup, 1117 S... Why is the name Oblivion written here?" Fiona asked and looked at back at me.

"My parents told us that they gave this house to the Talbains before moving to Texas." I said. "So in theory... This is my parent's old house.

Grayson and Fiona looked at each other, then walks out of the car and headed towards the house.

Fiona knocked on the front door and we waited but there nobody opened the door or even answered.

"If you're looking for the Phall's, they're both at work..." A voice said from the right.

Grayson, Fiona and I turned at the same time and saw a woman leaning on the white fence that separated the houses.

"Good morning." Grayson said and walked over. "My name is General Robert Grayson, we're actually here to look for the Talbains."

"Jon and Felicia?" The woman asked. "They moved actually, a month and a half ago. You actually missed them last night. They came over to say their last goodbyes to the Phall's and us and drive off around three AM last night. I have their number if you want to call them.."

"That would be great, ma'am." Grayson said then sighed loudly when the woman walked inside of her house.

I looked around and saw the word J'ariso written on the mail box of 1115 S Serene Dr.

"We probably passed them on the way to the motel." Fiona said and Grayson nodded.

The woman walked out a few minutes later and looked at us smiling. "Here you are. Felicia is the one who might be there in the morning as Jon works and the kids have school."

"Thank you ma'am." Grayson said as he took the paper from the woman and placed it in his front pocket without looking.

We got back into the car as Veronica and Alie were waking up.

"Are we here?" Alie asked as she wiped her eyes.

"No, it seems that they moved about a month ago." Grayson asked then started dialing the number but sighed when his phone ran out of battery.

"You really need to start charging that at night." Fiona said and looked through her pockets. "I left mine at the motel."

"We'll call them from yours, hopefully that'll save us another 16 hour drive." Grayson replied and handed the paper over to Fiona who placed it in her back pocket.

We drove back the way we came and entered the same motel that translated to Four Tailed Fox and pulled into the parking lot as the four tailed girl yawned and entered room one and closed the door behind her. A boy was behind the office, he looked a little like the girl so Grayson assumed it was the girl's brother. He also had four tails coming from his lower back.

"Hello." Grayson when we walked up for the office window. "We reserved rooms 27 and 28 last night. The girl was going to hold them for us.

"Oh yeah." The boy said.

He wore a black t-shirt that bore the legend "if it's not broken then you're not hitting it hard enough." He looked through the desk drawer for something then sighed when he didn't find what he was looking for.

"Ezra said that she left the keys somewhere, no… she handed them to me." He said and looked through the other drawers then sighed once more. "Where are they?" The boy said as he turned and looked through every cabinet and paper stack.

I heard Veronica and Alie giggling to themselves. I turned to look at them and they pointed towards the boy's midsection. I turned around and saw the keys to our rooms attached to one of his belt rings. I tapped Fiona in the side once and pointed the keys out to her. She chuckled once and smiled as the boy grew more desperate as he looked through the cabinets again.

"Don't tell me I lost another pair... Dad's gonna kill me." The boy said as he lifted the keyboard.

Grayson saw what we were looking at and tapped on the window. The boy looked up from below his desk and stared at Grayson.

"They're on your belt loop." Grayson said.

The boy stopped and looked down then made an irritated noise and unhooked the keys from his belt loop and handed them over.

"Grayson, when you were younger, did you sell your sense of humor or did you give it away?" Fiona asked, a little more annoyed than she should have been.

"Don't be silly, Fiona." Grayson started. "You can't sell your sense of humor." He snickered to himself as we all stared at each other, uneasily.

Fiona walked into room 27 and got her phone then dialed the number then realized that the woman only wrote down eight numbers and had written the ninth number but it got smudged. It looked like it might have been an 8 or a 6 or even a 0. The last digit was missing entirely.

"I don't think she did that on purpose." Fiona said.

"Try dialing random numbers at the end... It's a one in ten chance you'll get it right." Grayson suggested.

"What about the smudge?" Fiona asked.

"It looks like an 8." Grayson said.

"What if the last number is not supposed to be at the end? What if it's in the middle somewhere?" Fiona asked.

The number consisted of the area code plus the numbers 773-22 and what looked like an 8. Fiona tried the numbers 773-2282 and 773-2287 and got an out of service number. She then tried 773-2280 and got a man who wasn't a Talbain but asked if we wanted a newspaper subscription.

We drove back to the woman but found out that she had left note saying that she had left to pick up supplies for a camping trip that her husband and son had been planning and that she wouldn't be back until Monday, which was five days from today. The note also said that she might have forgotten a 1 but that she didn't remember where it went. Fiona tried dialing 773-2281, nothing. Then she tried 773-2218 and got a dialing tone. She put the phone on speaker and waited for the answer.

"Hello?" A woman asked on the other side.

"Hello ma'am, my name is Corporal Fiona Belmont. We're looking for a certain family. Is your last name Talbain, by any chance?" There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds "Hello?" Fiona asked and looked at her phone and saw that she had lost all signal.

Fiona walked around the parking lot until she was able to get signal again and dialed the number once more.

"Hello?" The woman asked again.

"Hello, I called a few minutes ago. I was looking for the Talbain family."

"Yeah, no my last name is McGraw and I haven't heard of the Talbains. I'm sorry... Wrong number maybe?" The woman replied.

"Thank you for your time." Fiona said and hung up the phone.

"What if it's a 6?" Grayson asked.

"What if it's a 0 or a 4 or a 2... The ink must have run while in my pocket... I'm sweating like mad... We should head back. I'll try switching up the numbers on the way."

We slept for a few hours on the motel rooms that we had already paid for and headed out in the morning. It took a few hours but we finally entered the Northern-Western border of Texas and continued our half day drive back to the base by Corpus Christi. Fiona dialed more random numbers and crossed them off on a list she made. 773-1228, 773-1226, 773-2182 and 717-3228 all came up as wrong numbers while other combinations where disconnected or headed straight for an inbox. Fiona left a message on each box but got tired and agitated after the 23rd combination she tried.

Veronica, Alie and I didn't say anything but we were all secretly happy that we didn't find the Talbains as it meant that we weren't going to be dumped with a family that might or might not want us.

-00-

"That sounds like it would suck, guessing numbers like that." Erika said as she drank some hot cocoa before her parents came and picked her up.

"It did. Coroner Fiona Belmont must have tried every combination of the number and never got the right name. She even bought a program that would shuffle the numbers for her."

"Did she ever find the number?" Desirèe asked.

"She did actually. She called it but got a generic message and Felicia deleted the message because neither she nor Jon had any connections with the military." I replied.

"So what was the number?" Joanna asked.

"It's the same number they have now." I pulled out my cell phone and typed Jon T. "717-3226... The smudge was actually a six and the one went after the first 7."

"Wow..." Erika said as her mother pulled up onto our driveway. "I've got to go, goodnight Poe, goodnight Mr and Mrs Oblivion, goodnight everyone!"

We waved goodbye as Poe took her to her mother's car and hugged her goodnight.

We all walked in a minute later and headed for bed. I brushed my teeth and let my white tiger fangs extend to brush them too.

"So... If you would be able to go back, would you have gone with Felicia and Jon?" Ai asked me as she tied her hair into a ponytail and got ready for bed.

"I think I would have." I said. "But if I did, I probably would have never met you. I also would have not gotten my ideals pounded into me."

"Hmm... I think I could use a pounding right now." She purred.

I stared at her and smiled. She jumped at me and wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed me passionately. I turned towards the bed then we both disappeared and fell on the mattress loudly, a second later. Ai landed on top of me and made cat like jesters.

"Take this pussy cat Mr. Tiger man." She said seductively.

I kissed her and fumbled for the light as I shifted to my white tiger form.


	5. Chapter V: A Man in Torn Leathers

_Chapter V_: **A Man in Torn Leathers**

"Go away!" Alie yelled from the other side of the wooden door that belonged to the women's bunker.

"Alexandria Oblivion, you open this door right now!" Grayson let out as two privates rammed the door shoulder first.

Alie was acting weird this morning and wouldn't want to play with us. She shoved me and ran into the woman's bunker when I asked her what was wrong.

She was currently on the other side of the door in her white tiger form. She pushed up against the door and stopped the privates from breaking it in by using nothing more than her enhanced white tiger strength.

"No!" Alie said then sniffed once. "Please, just leave me alone."

The privates stopped then looked at Grayson who nodded at them to ram the door again. They did but were barely able to move it before it fell back into place.

"What are you guys doing?" Fiona asked as she walked closer. She wore her army slacks with her training shirt wrapped around her waist and a female tank top with a sports bra underneath. She just came back from her daily jog.

One of the privates started a wolf whistle but stopped when he saw that Grayson was staring at him. Grayson signaled and both men rammed the door again.

Alie screeched then hissed loudly in a tone that sounded like it came from the white tiger inside of her.

Both men retreated slightly in fright then started moving back cautiously.

"Hit it again." Grayson said. "Alexandria, I don't know what has gotten into you, but you will open this door right now!"

Both men rammed the door as hard as they could. The door opened slightly and Alie shoved them back. Both men fell back and hit the floor on their sides. They stood up and rammed the door again.

"Stop it, both of you!" Fiona commanded.

Both privates stopped and looked at Grayson.

"MOVE!" Fiona yelled and both men moved back.

Fiona would be able to electrocute the door slightly and with any luck it would be enough to push my sister back and open the door, at least that's what I thought at the time.

Fiona pressed up against the door and tapped it twice in a specific way.

"Fiona?" Alie asked from the other side of the door.

"Alie, baby. Are you okay?" Fiona asked sweetly.

"Yes...no..." Alie replied softly.

"Is she hurt?" I asked, honestly concerned.

Fiona motioned reassuringly at me but never turned around.

"Are you hurt?" Fiona asked.

"No, I don't think so... I got a splinter from holding the door, but that's it." Alie said and sniffed.

"Is it that thing we talked about the other day?" Fiona asked.

My sister didn't reply.

"You don't have to say anything. Just tell me what's wrong, using the method I showed you. Do you remember?" Fiona said.

There was silence for a while then I was able to hear the faint sound of scratching and tapping on the door. The sound was so slight that I'm sure nobody but me and Fiona was able to hear it. I was not able to make out what Alexandria was telling Fiona with the scratching and tapping but it was clear that they were communicating as Fiona scratched tapped and dragged her fingers on the door in reply.

Alie used her claws to scratch the door a few times and paid special attention to pauses. Alie scratched the door a few more times and Fiona opened her eyes wide and nodded to herself.

"What's going on?" Gina, the base's medic, asked as she walked closer with Veronica at her side.

Fiona motioned for Gina to get closer then whispered in her ear. Gina's jaw dropped and stared at Fiona then at us.

"Can you give us some privacy?" Gina asked.

"Fiona, I want to know what's going on." Grayson said then stopped when Fiona mounted a word that I didn't catch. Grayson sighed loudly and turned back. "Let's go guys, leave the women to this."

"Take Vee with you and bring us some cleaning supplies." Fiona said as Alie opened the door slightly.

I wasn't able to see anything other than my sister's reddened face that meant that she had been crying.

Grayson, Veronica and I separated from the two privates and went back to the Grayson's bunker. Veronica hesitated and stopped outside of the door but I dragged her in as Grayson sighed and mumbled something that sounded like "I'm too old for this" and buried his face into his hands.

"Is everything okay?" Veronica asked.

Grayson looked through some opened fingers and sighed once more. "Alie is...she's...well you see...when a..." Grayson muttered then sighed once more. "Go ahead and take the cleaning supplies to Fiona at the women's bunker?"

"Sure." I said and walked over to the closet towards the back. "Stuff like rags and brushes?"

"No take the mop, disinfectant and bleach." Grayson said and moved to lie on his bed.

Veronica turned to me and I shrugged then gathered as much cleaning supplies that we could carry and took it over to the woman's bunker.

"Thanks guys." Gina said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Can you fill the bucket with water and just leave it here?"

"Okay, is Alie okay?" I asked and walked over to the faucet and dumped the water into the bucket.

"She's fine. A little fragile right now but she'll be okay." Gina replied and sniffed once.

"Are you sure? Did she cut herself, because I saw blood." Veronica said.

"She didn't cut herself, relax, she's fine. We'll tell you what happened later. Can you please keep Grayson company?" Gina asked.

"He's freaking out about something." I said.

"I know he is can you keep him company until he regains his composure again?" Gina asked.

"Sure." I said and pulled Veronica away.

Gina picked the bucket up with both hands and carried the bucket in.

-0-

Veronica, Alie and I walked out of the woman's bunk three hours later. It smelled like bleach and Fabuloso. Fiona and Gina sat the three of us down and told us about the birds and the bees. I thought that they were going to tell us a story but what we got was far from that.

I looked at Veronica, who looked back at me, and to Alexandria who kept looking down. I wanted to say something but was overwhelmed by an emotion I can't express: Sadness? Happiness? Anger? Confusion? Arousement because I might or might not have sneaked a few looks down Fiona's muscle shirt half a dozen times? I didn't know.

I started saying something then stopped and did the only thing I could do: walk forward.

Veronica and Alexandria followed me as I led them out of the base and into town. I didn't have any idea where to go so I took the girls into a gas station and bought some chips, soda, ice cream, cookies and gum. All was paid for by Grayson who didn't even notice when I took 50 bucks from his wallet.

We all ate our ice cream in silence as we sat on the sidewalk. Alie finished her ice cream sandwich first so I handed her the bottom half of my cone with the chocolate part still in the end.

"You love that part." Alie reminded me.

"I know. I'm giving it to you." I said and gestured for Alie to take the rest of my ice cream cone with the chocolate at the end.

She did slowly and licked it a few times.

"I want to see a movie." I said and stood up.

"That's a good idea!" Veronica said and smiled at Alie and me.

"Okay." Alie said.

We walked into the movie theater and watched some terrible zombie movie. The movie was supposed to be scary but we laughed throughout the film. There were only three other people in the theater: two were making out and the other sat in the back by himself.

At first I was the only one making comments then Veronica joined in and then Alie finally contributed, first with a laugh then by pointing something out. It took about 45 minutes of dissecting the movie before a smile came across my sister's face.

The man in the movie ran through the woods as a zombie limped after him. The man ducked quickly and his female companion let go of a branch that she was pulling back. The branch hit the zombie and knocked his head off. The zombie's head hit the floor and rolled until the stump of the neck just happened to attach itself to the stomp of another do zombie's body that had also been decapitated. Worms came out of the zombies remaining neck and sewed itself onto the empty body. The new zombie stood up and adjusted its head and continued after the man and woman.

The three of us laughed as the woman screamed and ran after the man then tripped. The zombie stepped on the woman's head and forced her face into the mud for a second before the zombie stopped a few steppes afterwards and looked back at the woman who pulled herself out of the mud. We laughed again when Veronica pointed out that the woman's dress wasn't dirty at all.

We got kicked out of the movie theater, ten minutes later, for being loud. Correction: I got kicked out and the girls followed. It was the first time ever as we were normally quiet. But that movie was so terrible that you couldn't help but laugh.

We laughed and stumbled and made as much noise as possible on our way back to the base. We greeted private Longfist, who was guarding the toll booth. He opened the gate and pretended to read a Time magazine but the small mirror behind the man reflected the dirty pictures from the magazine he was actually looking at.

We all slept on top of the medic building that night. Veronica wrapped a blanket around herself as Alie and I changed into our white tiger forms. We were both in full form, as we didn't know how to partially change yet. Veronica and I looked almost identical except that she was a little shorter and curvier. Our black and white fur protected us from the night's wind, even though it was a cool 84 degrees tonight.

"So..." I started. "Grayson is being transferred."

"What?" Veronica asked.

"He's taking over a pharmaceutical building in some other state, he didn't tell me where. I hope its Arizona; I want to see a cactus." I said.

"See a cactus?" Alie said. "You mean ram into it ass first, like you did when you were nine?"

Veronica laughed.

"Hey, that was an accident and dad said to step back to fit into the picture." I defended myself.

"Did you cry?" Veronica asked with a look of amusement.

"NO!" I let out.

"Oh my Gosh, yes he did." Alie said. "Mom had to pull out all the cactus stinger thingies from his butt with some tweezers."

Veronica and Alie laughed loudly as they imagined me crying out in pain as my mom held me over her knee and used her hair tweezers to pull out the cactus thorns from my backside.

"Hey, you guys sit on a cactus and tell me it doesn't hurt." I said loudly. "I couldn't feel my ass for a week."

Both girls laughed louder as Veronica waved her feet wildly and kicked the top of the medic building loudly.

Gina walked out to yell at us then noticed that we had been able to pull Alie out of her gloom. Gina smiled and cocked a hip.

"You kids sleeping up there tonight?" She asked while brushing some hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

"Yeah." Alie said.

"You cats are weird." Gina said.

"I'm not a cat." Veronica said.

Both Alie and I made cat like motions and sounds towards Veronica who simply stared at us.

"I'll get you kids some hot chocolate." Gina said and walked back in.

"So is Grayson taking us with him?" Veronica asked.

"He told me that if the Talbains didn't or couldn't take us then he would take us with him."

"Where do you think we're going?" Alie asked. "Oklahoma? Ooh Maine or Oregon maybe.

"I'm hoping north somewhere North but at the same time I hope that it's near here, like in Mississippi or Egypt or Toronto." I said.

"Richard, you know that Egypt is way off on the other side of the world and not near Texas right? The same goes for Toronto, which is in Canada." Veronica said. "In fact, none of those are near Texas."

"So what? It's like a day's drive? Day and a half max." I said.

"Try the word 'fly', Richard." Veronica said. "You have to fly to those locations, except for Toronto. You could drive there but it would be like three or four days. Although Missi...Miss...M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P... Miss...Mississippi, damn why is that so hard to say? Is a little closer, but still a good drive away.

"So what? Road trip." I said.

"On what? I ride you on the way there and Alie on the way back?" Veronica said.

"Grayson let me drive that tank once." I said and pointed at the anonymous camouflage tank in the armored vehicle yard. He did let me drive it and I most ran the rear gate over. Nobody got hurt but the base commanders thought I best to not try and teach a 13 year old to drive a tank.

"That turned out well didn't it?" Alie said.

"Here you go guys." Gina said as she stood on the front part of her heels. We reached down and got a mug of hot cocoa. "I only had three marshmallows left so I was only able to put one in each."

"It tastes great, Gina, thank you." Alie said and I grunted in agreement as I drank from mine.

"You guys have a goodnight. I'm on staff all night so tell me if you need something." Gina said then adjusted her glasses and went back inside.

"Life is good." I said as we all lay back down.

-0-

Two months passed and Fiona still couldn't get a hold of the Talbain's. She got a man who was Taliban but that didn't count. Grayson told us all that we would be leaving in a week so we were to gather our belongings. Grayson then told us where we were going but I was too busy noticing the two half named Cuban girls who were walking on the other side of the street.

"Dick... Dick... RICHARD!" Grayson yelled and I snapped back into focus.

"Huh?" I asked. Grayson, Alexandria, Veronica, Fiona and I sat inside of the nearest Denny's imitation restaurant. Grayson took us out to announce the news. It was going to be hard as Fiona wasn't going to come. She was promoted sideways and was going to be the assistant for this new military guy.

"Richard, you need to start paying attention." Grayson complained.

"To what?" I asked, honestly curious.

Grayson started to get angry but stopped when Fiona laughed. "I am going to miss you guys. The old dude that I'm going to help out is going to be strict and boring unlike Grayson whose fun and boring."

"I'm not boring." Grayson protested.

"You aren't impulsive..."

"I like to plan."

"You speak in all correct dialogue and stuff; all the time..."

"I'm very punctual."

"You plan out your entire month and keep to it, with the exception of taking the kids to Erorala. Which besides, you only did because you made a promise and because I kept bitching you to do it."

"I'm well organized."

"You never laugh, you never joke around, I've walked around practically butt naked for you and you've never even made a move."

"I joke around, don't I kids?"

We all just stared at each other for a second and smiled back.

"See! Besides you're half my age as well as my assistant. The base commanders wouldn't see that as correct behavior."

"I'm only eight years younger than you! See! By the book, all the time."

"Seven years, seven months, two weeks, five days, eleven minutes and 28 seconds younger."

Fiona stared at him for a second then grunted loudly and crossed her arms.

"Why are you so angry at me?"

"I'm not mad, I'm just pointing out the obvious."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds as the waitress stood there and hugged the notepad to her chest.

"So...are we 'bout t'order or do you need another minute t'argue- I mean think about it."

"I'll take a double cheese burger with fry's." I said and handed my menu order.

"Me too." Veronica said.

"Me three." Alie added.

"I'll take the stake, well done, with mashed potatoes with some green tea." Grayson said as Fiona mouthed each word that Grayson said as he said it.

"I'll have the chicken salad and a mountain dew...and a shot of mescal." Fiona said and handed the menu over.

"Only one?" The waitress said humorously.

"You're right, make it two." Fiona replied.

"It's four o'clock somewhere." The waitress said and walked away.

"What's mescal? Veronica asked.

"Mexican for tequila." Grayson said.

"Spanish... SPANISH for tequila, 'Mexican' is not a language." Fiona said.

-0-

We all finished our meal about ten minutes later and sat around talking about what happened in the base. Fiona talked about what the base was like before we arrived. It wasn't much different but the youngest person then was 19.

Grayson paid for the meal and we walked out and back to the SUV. "Let's do something different today." Grayson said. Fiona turned to stare at him.

20 minutes later, we were in a cemetery. Grayson thought that we might want to visit our parents' grave before we left the base.

Veronica split from us to look for her parents' grave, Alexandria and I did the same.

We had visited their grave once, when they were first buried but never got around to doing it again.

We finally found the twin graves labeled Oblivion. Most of the graves had crosses or angels on top of them but my parent's graves each had a crouching tiger on top. The tiger was made out of cement so it didn't have any color but it didn't take a genius to see that both graves had a white tiger on them.

Fiona walked up and handed Alexandria half a dozen of nightshades. I emptied out the base with the withered flowers and replaced them with the half dozen of nightshades then picked up the white tiger stuffed animal, that Alie used to sleep with, and dusted it off before placing it back down between the two graves.

My sister and I held hands as we gave our parents an update on what had happened. Alexandria told them that she was a woman now, according to Gina, and I told them that I finally started brushing my teeth every day, twice sometimes.

We spent an hour talking to them, we both knew that we wouldn't get an answer, and that they probably weren't able to hear it in body or in soul but it gave us closure, in a way, and we never actually know if they can actually hear it.

We told them about how we were leaving and not sure when we're going to be able to come see them again. I imagined my dad telling me what he told me once when I told him that I was staying late after school and not sure when I was getting back.

"Make sure that you're not escorted home by the cops." My father's voice said in my head.

I smiled and realized that I had been crying. I looked over and saw that Alexandria was too. I wrapped my arm around and kissed her forehead. We said goodbye to our parents and promised to come back as soon as we could.

We noticed Veronica kneeling by her parents' grave. She seems to be crying too. It wasn't easy holding it in for so long.

We regrouped and quietly walked back to the car but didn't see Grayson or Fiona anywhere as we stepped closer. Alexandria was about to call out but I covered her mouth before she got anything out. She frowned and looked at me. I pointed to the car and noticed the SUV slowly rock back and forward. I guess that Grayson finally did something impulsive.

We all chuckled and decided to walk back to the base. Veronica quietly stepped close and tapped a note to the side of the SUV while ducking and covering her eyes, so she doesn't see anything, then joined us.

We passed by and bought some Icee's and drank them on the way home, yes that was the word for it: Home. The base had become our home, our place of shelter. If only because it had a lot of people with a lot more guns.

My head started hurting because I drank the icee too fast. My icee always consisted of the red and blue mix but they now had a banana flavor so I mixed that into my icee.

"So Grayson finally did something impulsive." Alie said as she drank her Coke flavored icee. I hated the coke flavor because it tasted like eggs.

I was about to reply when Veronica cut me off and said what I was going to, word for word. "Something? I think you mean someone."

I laughed and had icee come out of my nose. The cold drink froze my sinuses for a second then burned. Some of the icee even pulled out a nose hair or two, which made me tear up slightly.

We laughed and continued walking then heard some noises coming from the nearest ally.

"Let's go to the other side." My sister said and j-walked to the other side of the street as Veronica and I followed.

A man dressed in torn black leathers stumbled back and wobbled as another man hit him with a gulf club on the side. The man in leather shifted with the impact but didn't fall. A third man came out of the ally's mouth and kicked the lone man in the midsection, making him crash back first onto a car.

The lone man pushed himself off and looked at the second man who punched him in the face twice.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled but they didn't hear me.

The first man swung the golf club, the lone man gestured quickly and the golf club broke in two. The lone man now held a large black and sharp looking scythe in his hand. The scythe looked heavy but he held it as if it was weightless. The lone man coughed out blood and dropped the scythe which hit the floor then disappeared.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled and threw my icee at the second man who was about to punch the lone man again.

The second man flinched then gasped loudly and wiped his face then looked up at me while he held the lone man in one hand. The second man punched the weakened man in leathers and let him drop.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked.

"Beat it kid!" The first man said and hit the lone man with the part of the golf club he held in his hands.

"This fucking monster needs to get an ass-whooping." The second man said and kicked the man in leathers.

"I said to leave him alone." I repeated as I stood as close as I dared.

I hated when people took advantage of others, especially when bullies attack in groups. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take on them without hurting them bad with my white tiger claws.

"What you gonna do kid?" The second man said and walked up to me and lifted me by my shirt. He lifted his hand and moved to punch me when his hand stopped abruptly.

He looked back and a darkened hand held onto his arm. The hand slowly disintegrated which left the man confused.

He looked at me and I smiled back. "I'm not going to do anything, she is." I said and gestured towards the street.

Veronica's eyes were pitch black as her face flashed red. Her hands twitched once in a while as she stared at the man. Her head jerked to the side once which made her seemed possessed but I knew that she reacted that way because she wasn't used to using her power as she still wasn't 100% comfortable with being a dark one.

The man tossed me aside and I floated in midair an inch or two from the floor. I looked back and saw some black material that I couldn't understand how its touch felt. Its entire existence confused all my senses.

I knew what it was, the only thing it could be. I only saw Veronica use her powers twice, once when I was wrestling with her when she was in a bad mood and then again when Grayson asked her to show him what she was able to do.

That was a long time ago though and she hasn't used it since. The black material disintegrated and I jerked to my side and landed on all fours. I looked at Veronica's feet from underneath the car, which was parked by the ally mouth, and noticed a single fact that sent a cold sensation through my back. I noticed that she didn't have a shadow. Alexandria had a shadow, the second man had a shadow, and I had one too. She didn't. I figured that it was due to the fact that she was using her power.

"What a freak!" The first man said threw the part of the golf club at Veronica. The club piece abruptly stopped in midair half way between the man and Veronica. The arm of the second's man shadow had reached out into the sun's light and wrapped itself around the golf club. The shadow dissolved and the golf club fraction fell to the floor.

Veronica is able to manipulate shadows. Meaning that she could use shadows to move or stop items. It was also able to do more but she hardly practiced it so she wasn't able to be sure what the extents of her abilities were.

There are two different kinds of shadows; the man made one, meaning the shadows that can be created by placing an item or person in front of a man made light source like a candle or a light bulb that was switched on. Veronica was able to control those as much as she wanted and for as long as she wanted or until the shadow would come in contact to the sunlight's rays. The second type of shadow was the natural one, meaning the kind that was made by placing an item or person outdoors where the sun could hit them. She was able to work with those types but they would only be able to stretch out as far as they were structurally possible, meaning that you couldn't extend the shadow longer than the actual shadow's size. The shadow in natural light would eventually disintegrate shadows can't exist in daylight.

The second man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Veronica.

"This bitch is one of them fucking monsters too. Bet she can't stop a bullet though." He said and pulled the hammer of the bun back.

He pulled the trigger and the gun fired but Veronica still stood. The man shot again and once again, the gun sounded but nothing happened. He shook the gun and pulled the trigger as I realized why the gun wasn't firing.

"Technically the gun is shooting." I said. "But she's using the darkness of the gun to make a barrier so the gun won't let the bullets out."

"Shut up kid." The man said and pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger. The gun blew open and the bullet's that had been stuck inside of the chamber finally needed out when the last bullet added more than the gun's capacity to hold pressure. The man cried out as his gun burned and some bullet fractures, which had exploded inside of the gun, broke open his hand.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." The second man said and started walking away while holding his hand.

The first man followed but stopped to kick the fallen man. A shadow lashed out and wrapped itself around the man's leg before he was able to connect. More shadows came out as the first one started disappearing and encased the man. The shadows pulled him back and tossed him through the nearest window of the abandoned building that used to be a barber shop.

The glass broke loudly and it took a minute and limped out while staring at Veronica. He flinched when a shadow manifested in front of him and limped away as fast as he could.

The second man made a rude gesture, involving his middle finger, towards Veronica then gasped as his own shadow now stood in front of him. His shadow was equally tall as the man who pouched at it in vain as his hand went right through it. An arched gap appeared and formed a kind of smile around the lip area on the shadow's face. The man stepped back then jerked slightly as the shadow's leg thruster forward and knees the man in the testicles. The shadow stretched back into normal size as the man fought to stay up then limped away.

"Holy crap, Vee. Remind me to stay on your good side." Alexandria said as Veronica's eyes returned to normal.

Veronica breathed in loudly and shuttered once then smiled at us. "I had actually forgotten that I could do that." She said.

"Thank..." The man in leathers started but began coughing blood.

"Don't speak, Mr." Veronica said as she walked closer. "Richard, we have to take him to Gina."

I nodded and helped the injured man to his feet and let him throw his arm around me and Alexandria as we helped him walk towards the base which was probably a mile and a half away.

We walked for two minutes before a car SUV stopped next to us.

"Richard, what's going on?" Grayson asked when he got out of the car.

"Grayson, he was attacked when we were walking by; we couldn't just leave him there." I said as he came over and took the man from Alexandria and helped me load him into the SUV.

There were only five seats so Veronica had to sit on my lap as Grayson drove back to base. The man looked as if he was ready to pass out as he bobbled his head a few times.

"Hey, HEY." Grayson said, addressing the man. "Talk to me, don't pass out. Do you know where you are? What day is it?"

"What day?" The man gasped out. "Tuesday...Tuesday the eight... We're near Austin...no...Corpus Christi, Texas."

"That's right." Grayson said as he passed a few cars. "Which month? What year? Do you know what year it is?"

"It's...it's...July... Two-thousand and..." The man started but started coughing violently and spat blood out through the window.

"Hey, you're doing well." Grayson said as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as we were two stops away from the base. "What color is her hair?" Grayson asked the man and signaled at Veronica.

"What?" The man asked.

"Just answer me, it'll keep you from passing out, what color is her hair?" Grayson repeated.

"I don't know…yellow? Yellow, she's a blond." The man said as Veronica stared at him then at Grayson and finally at me.

"Good. What's your name? What did those guys want with you?" Grayson asked.

The man looked around slowly, he seemed dazed and confused and very fragile. He opened his mouth to say something then stopped. He opened his mouth again and spoke a single word before passing out: "Rewall."

Grayson practically yelled at private Cera, who was filling in for private Longfist today, when he didn't open the gate fast enough. We helped the man down as he was unconscious while Gina ran out of the medic building and pulled a stretcher out with her. Grayson placed the man on the stretcher and helped pull it into the medical building as Gina held the door opened.

"How long has he been out? Grayson I told you to keep them talking so they don't pass out." Gina complained.

"I tried; I did exactly what you told me to." Grayson replied. "I asked him where he was, what day it is and his name along with other questions and he still passed out about a minute before we got here."

"That's not too bad." Gina said as Grayson stationed the man in one of the empty compartments and Gina cut the man's pant leg open with some scissors.

Fiona shoved us out of the room while the machine announced that the man had a weak heartbeat.

Two days passed and Grayson stayed by the man who was now stable. He had some broken bones and would have to have surgery to remove one of his ruined kidneys but he would live.

The man's name was Rewall, whether that was a first or last name was beyond my knowledge. He was originally from New Mexico and he came to Texas on his way to Nevada where he would be staying with a friend. The two men who assaulted him did so because he was a dark one, like us.

Grayson had a look of disbelief over his face but gave the man the benefit of the doubt as there are a lot of people that hate our kind.

Grayson suggested that we, as in Veronica and Alexandria and I, don't leave the base. There were also reports on the TV news that people were being assaulted, in what seemed to be a random behavior. The news people blamed it on gangs but Grayson's intel leaned more on the fact that they were also dark ones. One woman was hung by her hair, on a lamp post and the word "FREAK" was carved into her back and left leg last night.

-0-

A lot of the base residents saluted as we drove off in the red SUV. We all waved and smiled, and Veronica blew kisses, to the people. We drove up to the gate where Longfist pushed the switch that opened the gate, while he saluted.

Grayson gave a salute back as the gate short circuited. Grayson looked alarmed then turned when there was a tapping on his driver side window.

Fiona smiled as Grayson opened lowered the window. "Fiona, I should have-" He started but was cut off as Fiona leaned forward and held his face with her hands and kissed him.

It took a few seconds but she finally let go and said "I'll miss you, General." Then touched the gate that came back to life and opened full way.

She stood back and saluted as Grayson returned the gesture and drove through the gate and into the street.

Alexandria, Veronica and I looked back as we drove off. Fiona waved and blew kisses at us and we copied her.

Grayson turned the GPS on, that was still set to French, as he didn't even try to set it back because it reminded him of Fiona. The destination was already set and it announced our expected travel time, in French although the figures were still in English, then quieted down as Grayson said that he would put some cool music for us. I let out for him to put some rock and he switched to rock and roll.

-00-

"That was the first time I ever heard of Elvis Presley." I said as Ai, my wife, walked out with some chips, salsa and soda. The usual group sat around me with the addition of Michael who visited with his daughter and twin sons.

"My dad told me about Rewall." Michael said as he played with his daughter's pigtails.

His wife, Kassandra, walked out as she held a tray of sandwiches. She was about four months pregnant with their fourth child now. She had long stringy ginger hair that seemed to be going everywhere. She wore a V-neck shirt that showed off her cleavage as well as the freckles that ran through her face, neck and chest. They had a pair of twin boys and a girl, who like a younger version of Pipi Longstockings. All three of their kids where of the same breed as the mother, who were a Siberian husky. Michael said that they were going to keep trying until they had a werewolf child, we all though he was joking but it sure seemed that way.

"Yeah, he was a backstabber." I said.

"What happened to Veronica?" Erika asked.

"Rewall happened." I replied.


	6. Chapter VI: The Night Warriors

_Chapter VI_: **The Night Warriors**

I awoke and rubbed my eyes to see the night sky through the SUV's front mirror. I yawned and scratched my head as we drove onto the right side of the road and straight into the fence that was about 10 feet away. It only took a split second for me to snap awake and reached for the steering wheel and shifted it to the left.

Grayson, who's head had been tilted back as he had fallen asleep a few seconds ago, snapped awake with the sudden shake and slammed on the breaks as he took the steering wheel back from me.

I looked at Grayson, with my hands still on the steering wheel, as he looked back at me and smiled gingerly.

We both looked back and saw Veronica and Alexandria sitting in the back seats of the SUV. Both were upright and wide eyed as they stared at us.

Grayson's cell phone rang, with a hawk's call as a ringtone.

He answered it as he continued on the road.

"Hello...no I didn't hit anything yet...yes...it's fine." Grayson said and looked at me, out of the corner of his eye, to make sure that I didn't change to my white tiger form to listen to the person on the other end of the call. "Okay, goodnight Fiona."

I raised my eye brow as Grayson hung up the phone.

"Did she say to find a motel before you crashed somewhere?" I asked.

"How did you know? Did you change again? I didn't even notice if you did. Eavesdropping isn't correct behavior, Dick." Grayson said.

"I didn't have to hear anything. She always commented on both when we drove at night.

We finally stopped in a big named hotel as I yawned loudly. Grayson walked out of the hotel's lobby after he was done reserving a room then walked back towards us and saw the girls in the back and turned around and headed back in to reserve a second room.

I read the receipt in silence as we headed up the elevator and into the third floor, where our room was. Both room cost a little over $120 but what I always paid attention to was the business location, Carlsbad, and the state, New Mexico, and the words "We appreciate your business!"

I was falling asleep when some light knocking was heard on the door. I waited for Grayson to answer the door but he never moved. I pulled myself out of bed and saw Grayson sleeping with his face covered by a pillow to drown the snoring. I yawned again and opened the door and saw Veronica and Alexandria standing outside with a blanket and a pillow under each hand.

They yawned then rubbed their eyes as I waved them in. Ten minutes later we were all fighting for a place on my bed. We had all grown up so fitting in a regular twin bed wasn't as easy anymore.

In the morning I awoke lying sideways on the bed with Alexandria's legs over mine and Veronica's over my chest. I looked and saw both of them asleep so I lay there motionless.

Grayson snorted awake and stood up. He looked a little dazed then asked. "What time is it?"

I hushed him quietly which made him look my way then shift back when he saw the girls asleep and pretty much burying me.

Grayson scratched his head. Then yawned once more and lay back down. I thought about how we were all growing and how the three of us used to all fit in a regular bed without problem. Fiona measured me a day or two before we left and said that I was now 5'1. She said that I would get bigger in the next year.

It was now 9:30 and I was awoken when Alexandria had transformed into her white tiger form in her sleep and had been moving so she lightly scratched my midsection with her left foot.

I tickled her foot and she moved it away but let it shift right back. Grayson was up now. He went to the bathroom and stopped when he saw me still buried under the girls' legs.

He moved over and took hold of my feet and slowly pulled me out as I made sure to not wake the girls up.

I caught myself with my hands as I hit the floor then stood up and silently thanked Grayson.

"So why did I pay for two rooms?" He murmured.

I shrugged then smiled when my sister scratched her stomach with her white tiger claws.

We both headed out into the hall where there was a girl sitting in front of a door. She held her head down and would only raise it to hit the door.

"Weirdo." Grayson muttered and took me to a fast food restaurant to get breakfast.

We ate ours there then ordered seconds plus some for the girls. We ate our second servings on the way home.

"Why did we get two?" I asked.

"Because we're men and because we can." Grayson said as he bit into a sausage link.

I smiled as we entered the motel's lobby. That was the first "just because" statement that he ever made. Grayson drank some of his coffee as we entered the elevator that took us to the third floor where our rooms were. He handed me his coffee which I held then sipped. Grayson stared at me as I shrugged and drank some more.

"Don't get addicted to that stuff." He said and took the coffee from me then stopped when he felt that there was only a little left then drank it.

We entered our room and the girls were still asleep. Alexandria was laying on her back with her white tiger paw on her furry stomach, as Veronica now lay face down with her head and arms on the outside of the mattress.

"Leave them sleep." Grayson said as he began looking for clothing.

We walked around silently as we began to get ready to head out when Alexandria moaned slightly and shifted.

I walked over and shook her once to wake up but she ignored me so I walked into the bathroom and wet my hand then walked out without drying it. I put my face about three inches from Alexandria's and moved my hand over her forehead so the water slowly drips down.

Alexandria's face shifted, slight at first, whenever the water reached her furry forehead. She moaned again and opened her pure white eyes slowly. It wasn't the first time I've seen her in that animal form but it did seem weird to see her asleep in such a way. Normally we only shifted while awake and even then it was only for a short time.

"Oh crap!" She yelled as she instinctively jumped back and hit the wall with her white tiger claws digging into the drywall.

Veronica shifted awake. "What? What?" She asked as she tried lifting her head with her arms but ended up sliding off the bed, flipping over, and landing back first in the floor.

I laughed as I could see Alexandria's chest rising and falling quickly as she was still alert. I must have also frightened the animal in her because even the claws on her feet were extended.

"What the hell, Richard?" Alexandria asked as I fell on Grayson's bed, laughing. "You could have given me a heart attack.

I sighed and wiped a year from my eye. "That was awesome; you should have seen the look in your eyes." I imitated her facial expressions and laughed again.

Veronica stood up and rubbed her back slightly. You're such a jerk, Richard. I could have broken my neck." She said but I just kept laughing.

Alexandria jumped at me from the beds and lay on top of me as she held my hands with her white tiger paws; I don't think she even knew that she had changed. The transformation gave us the animal's instincts and abilities but it was easy to forget that those feelings belonged to the animal and not the person sometimes.

"Say you're sorry." Alexandria said with an animal growl, she didn't realize that she was showing me her animal fangs.

I was about to say something when she jerked back slightly as Grayson pulled on her left white tiger ear.

"Ow, ow, OW!" She said and instinctively began to slash at Grayson's midsection with her claw but she stopped herself when she saw that she was about to attack Grayson who raised an eyebrow at her.

Alexandria chuckled and smiled slightly then lowered her paw.

"Down girl." Grayson said and motioned for her to get off me.

Alexandria didn't protest as she got off the bed, I followed. Grayson put the bed nice and tidy again. Alexandria kicked my leg once and I shoved her with my arm.

"Stop it you two." Grayson said.

"Stop what?" Alexandria said as Veronica yawned and headed to the bathroom.

"Stop hitting each other." He said.

Alexandria gave a look of surprise then gasped slightly when an eye appeared from the back of Grayson's head and focused on her.

"I could see you, remember?" Grayson said as the eye disappeared and he turned around. "You might want to be dressed and human when we head downstairs." He reached out and lifted her right paw by its fur and held it in front of her. "I don't think the people downstairs would react well to see a white tiger girl walk into the lobby with them. They'll scream and run."

"Either that or those two Las Vegas Circus Circus dudes will be there and throw a net over her and drive off. I heard they were looking for a new white tiger for their new act."

Alexandria cocked her hip and crossed her arms then stuck her tongue out at me as her fur slowly dissolved into her body as the muzzle on her face shrunk and showed her human face. Her skin slowly shifted from the black on white to a tanned pink.

-0-

I opened Grayson's cell phone as Fiona had sent him a new text message that was addressed to me.

"Is he eating more than he normally does?" The text from Fiona asked.

I turned and saw Grayson bite into his breakfast burrito then down some coke as he drove.

I typed in the numbers 9371 that spelled "Yes." and hit the send button.

I got a response a few seconds later saying "Tell him not to be so nervous."

I typed in: 65290469027308446471*** which spelled the sentence "Okay how are things?" and hit the send button.

"Is it Fiona?" Grayson asked as a potato piece fell out of his mouth.

"Yes, she says to not be nervous." I said as I opened the new text.

"Different, miss you guys!1!111!" It said.

I smiled and hit the keys 9306477096808661**, which stood for "We miss you too!" hit send and closed the phone.

Grayson snacked on a breakfast burrito as he took the map from me as we drove down the highway. He swerved once or twice so I took the steering wheel from him.

I stared at the sign that sign that said "now leaving Carlsbad" as Grayson stared at the map.

"Tell me when we get to Calrsbad City, okay." Grayson said.

"Uh..." Veronica started.

"Grayson... Um... We might or might not have passed it." Alexandria said.

"Really? When?" Grayson asked as he stared into the map.

"About two seconds ago. We slept there remember?" I said as I swerved to dodge a dog who was trying to cross the road.

"Really?" Grayson asked then pulled out the receipt and swore when he saw that we really did sleep in a motel in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

He turned the car around, and barely avoided hitting both the fence on the side and the driver behind him, after he declared that I was a bad driver.

-0-

I stepped out of the car while staring at the broken down building that read the word H yton Ind t ies. The building was being remodeled and a wing was being added.

"This place looks like crap." I said as a worker was trying to climb on the roof from the side and fell off but was caught by the jumpee cord tied around his waist.

"So where are we going to live?" Alexandria asked as she pulled slightly on her skirt.

Grayson shrugged. "They didn't tell me anything about that, now that I think of it. A motel maybe... We might even have a room or something in here."

"Ew!" Veronica said.

"Do you have any idea of all the germs that old building is bound to have?" Alexandria complains.

"Probably a little less than the nails you've been biting since we left Corpus Christi." Grayson said as Alexandria tucked her hands behind her.

I smiled and stared at my sister then started walking and stopped when a man in casual clothes stood outside of the building. He waved us over then walked inside.

We shrugged and walked forward and finally in. We stood in a lobby that had a receptionist desk to the immediate right and what might have been waiting lobby chairs that were covered in semi transparent plastic.

Grayson was about to call out when some voices could be heard coming down the hall. In a few seconds a man in a white t-shirt, blue and white shirt and tan cargo shorts walked up as he signed some paper and talked to a man wearing a hard hat. The first man handed the papers over to the man in the hard hat and they both separated.

"Hello, General Grayson." The man started and walked up to shake Grayson's hand.

"Good morning." Grayson replied.

"I am Jacob Linens, we were expecting you about an hour ago, did everything go alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine." Grayson started. "We just got lost.

"Yes, that does happen a lot. No matter, please make yourself at home. The bed chambers are down the hall and you will most likely have beds to yourselves but we ask you to bunch together if we get a lot more people come in. We are adding three new wings to the building, two of which are for housing so there shouldn't be a problem after that.

"More people?" Grayson asked.

"Clearance level black, General. We'll discuss that later." Linens said.

"Kids, can you find us some beds to rest, I've got to talk to Mr. Linens for a little bit." Grayson said.

"Okay. Here's your cell phone back." I said and handed his cell phone, that I held onto since the morning when Fiona texted Grayson. Grayson took the cell phone and put it in his pocket as I took Alexandria's hand in mine and pulled her away as Veronica followed.

We were half way down the hall when Alexandria broke the silence.

"Don't you want to hear what they're saying?" She asked.

"Of course!" I said. "But that won't be till later when we get the phone back."

"Why?" Veronica asked as Alexandria nodded.

I simply smiled and walked into the room labeled "Beds."

The hall smelled of disinfectant and scented candles. There were several different doors that lead to rooms throughout the hall. Most doors were opened, which we assumed it meant that it was empty, as well as available.

A nerdy girl juggled a stack of books as she passed several people down the hall.

"Excuse me!" She said as she passed us.

We all stared as six more rows of books floated along behind her. We all looked at each other in surprised and came to the conclusion that everyone here was a dark one.

A girl ran out of a hallway and ran into a room and closed the door as another girl ran up to the rooms door and knocked on it twice loudly then touched the door that burst into millions of smaller pieces then reformed after the second girl walked through it.

"This place is full of life, isn't it?" Veronica said.

"Looks that way." I replied and walked down the hall and glanced at the opened rooms. One of which had a white fox girl and a boy with wings who were sitting on their bed talking. The girl smiled and waved at us as we passed by, the boy grinned and nodded at me.

We settled on three rooms on the edge of the second row. The halls were set on criss crossing patterns. A map on the edge of each row said that there were four rows in total. There were 5 rooms in each half of the rows so that means that there were 20 rooms per row, 10 per each side, and 40 rooms in total. The map that said "you are here" that was by Alexandria's room said that we were on the B side of row 2 We shared the hall with a pair of black cat sisters, who kept to themselves, and the nerdy girl who passed us on the way in.

Grayson came in and we told him that we got him the room across the row. He thanked us and walked in without another word.

"You okay?" I asked when I walked into his room.

"Yeah..." He replied and sat down on the bed that was pushed on the side of the room.

"Hmm... Can I borrow your phone? I want to play solitaire." I lied.

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the phone then handed it to me without saying anything.

"Thanks." I said and walked out.

He grunted and lay on his bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Veronica asked when I closed Grayson's door.

"Don't know, we're about to find out though." I said and opened Grayson's phone and stopped the voice recording program that had been running in the background for half an hour now. We headed across the hall, which was probably around five steps, and closed my door.

We all sat on my bed as I started playing the recorded message back. It took it a few seconds to start as it was a little over half an hour long.

The recording started from when we got out of the car. I wasn't going to record anything but I just hit record and left it alone. I fast forwarded to the part that Grayson asked us to find our rooms.

"Clearance level black, General. We'll discuss that later." Linens recorded voice said.

"Kids, can you find us some beds to rest, I've got to talk to Mr. Linens for a little bit." Grayson's voice sounded tired over the phone's speaker.

"Okay. Here's your cell phone back." My voice said and there was silence for about half a minute.

"Officially... We are here to act as a center to start a group home for people with...powers; I'm calling the group 'Night Warriors'. There are a lot more people that are different and need a place to support them. Support and protect them from all the groups of people who wish them harm. They're segregated and laughed at."

"I saw that in Texas. A man killed the parents of those kids. I happened to be there and was able to help before the kids were killed too... They were only 10 and 11."

"Yes, you'll find that a lot of the people here are orphans or don't have a home for one reason or another. Not everyone is as supportive or caring as you."

"What's your position in all this?"

"I neither hate nor adore them. I think of them as people...people who have a sickness...no that's the wrong word. More like people with a misunderstood gift."

"Is that why you started this organization?"

"I didn't start it but I'm glad to be part of it. But this facility will try and find a cure for this gift."

"It's not a sickness. Having these powers isn't something that should just be thrown away."

"I agree with you. But some people don't see it that way."

"You're talking about people in the military?"

"No, well yes...but that's not what I mean. Some people who have this gift see it as a burden, and would like a cure. This facility will try and separate them from their powers or even show them how to live and control it. We have a full staff of doctor's and guards are dedicated to the volunteers that wish to undergo the experimental procedures. It gives me a chance to try something too."

"So why all this secrecy?"

"Secrecy?"

"Clearance level black..."

"Walk into my office please."

There was the sound of shuffling and then the sound of a door closing.

"Mr. Linens, what is so-" Grayson started.

"Please call me Jacob. I'm not one for formalities, Robert." Linens said. There was silence before he spoke again. "Yes, Robert. Clearance black. You do know what that means don't you?"

"Yes." Grayson replied.

"This information is only known by a selected few and is only to be spoken of by you and me in this room and not to be repeated to anyone, is that understood?"

"What could be so secret about a pharmaceutical company?"

"Is that understood, Robert?"

"Yes."

"Good. I work under Iliabel, your superior, and he has personally recommended you for this job. What we are going to try is something that has never been tried before."

There was a pause that was followed by the sound of papers being placed on the table.

"What's this?" Grayson asked as he was heard browsing through the papers.

"20 profiles. 12 of which are Night Warriors that are here and the other 8 are on their way and should be here in the next week or two. We are hoping to increase it at least five fold by the end of summer."

"-Black, Soria: female, 23.  
>5'7. Nationality: English. Speciespowers: feline. Level 3/10.

-Black, Elizabeth: female, 21.  
>5'6. Nationality: English. Speciespowers: feline. Level 3/10.

-Kyo, Arnold: male, 27.  
>5'11. Nationality: Black. Speciespowers: bird/flight. Level 7/10.

-Rawlings, Alacia: female, 19.  
>5'5. Nationality: American. Speciespowers: levitation/photographic memory. Level 6/10.

-Gerald, Roxanne: female, 18.  
>5'8. Nationality: Black. Speciespowers: invisibility. Level 8/10.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were recruiting dark ones."

"Some might say you're right, Robert." Linens replied.

"For what? War? Espionage? Piece keeping? Experiments?"

"All and none maybe." There was a pause as Grayson shuffled through the papers. "The subjects get ranked on their estimated usefulness. Take Roxanne Gerald. She is able to become invisible. Do you have any idea how valuable that can be in a war."?

"War?"

"She would be ideal for information gathering, spying... She could even take out an entire platoon by herself."

"Why did you say 'war'? What war?"

"There's always a war, Robert. I think that it's time we show that we not only have an upper hand but that we're years further than the enemy."

"Is this?"

"Yup."

Grayson sighed then read the files:  
>"-Oblivion, Richard: male, 14.<br>5'1. Nationality: American. Species/powers: white tiger. Level 4/10.

-Oblivion, Alexandria: female, 13.  
>5'0. Nationality: American. Speciesabilities: white tiger. Level 4/10.

-Walker, Veronica: female, 14.  
>4'9. Nationality: Hispanic. Speciespowers: shadow and space manipulation. Level...  
>Is this right?"<p>

"Yes... She got a perfect score: 10/10."

"Why?"

"I knew this one man who could do what she could, when I was a boy. He was poor and would use his gift, a lot like Ms. Wake's. He stole objects of value to sell. He never got caught since he used his shadow powers to steal the items when nobody was around."

"So you're expecting Veronica to... Steal items for you?"

"Not as such no. What if she could be used to take out rank after rank of soldiers? Think about it... To her, it wouldn't matter if they were behind trenches or inside a base. Look around the room, Robert! Do you not see shadows in this room?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"What stops her from killing us right now, with the right training of course." Linens said.

We all stared at each other for a few seconds then looked back at the phone when the recording continued.

"So you expect me to just let you use those kids, the children that I think of as my own, as instruments of war? Something you could throw at the enemy? Do you have any idea what that would do to them? It would scar them for life! Richard and Alexandria would be a little better off but Veronica won't even hurt a fly. Literally. I had to kill a lot of insects for her because she wouldn't or couldn't kill them. About a year ago, a bird hit the electricity poles and fried. He died instantly. The two girls cried for the bird: a stupid, dead, fried bird...and they cried for it. They convinced Richard to dig up the soil behind the medic building to make a grave for it; does that sound like someone who will kill a, how did you put it? An entire platoon?"

"You don't have a choice, Robert. As long as we're concerned: you're relieved of the duty of taking care those three. We'll handle them."

"Good luck. Richard and Alexandria will ignore you completely and Veronica will question everything you say and do." Grayson chuckled.

"They'll be made to see reason."

"And you'll find out how much a scratch hurts when it's coming from a white tiger. Should know." There was silence for a few seconds in which Grayson probably held up his arm to show one of the many scratches Alexandria gave him at some point. "Those kids aren't only kids, Linens. They're smarter than that." The sound of static was heard as if Grayson had tapped the phone twice, signaling that he knew that we had been recording the conversation. I'm sure that he didn't let Linens see the gesture though. "Those kids trust me completely and I will not do anything that will compromise that."

"You will have to, General. Or I will-"

"You will what? You'll inform Iliabel? I think I'll call him right now and see what he thinks." Static was heard through the phone as Grayson had reached for it but stopped.

"No... Listen... They don't have to know about this. I'll be willing to disregard the two Oblivion kids completely but I want Ms. Wake. The two white tigers are useless to me anyway."

There was silence then the sound of Grayson getting up followed by the sound of someone striking someone with a closed fist.

"Don't you dare talk about the kids like that." Grayson barked.

"You've made a big mistake, Robert."

"That's General Grayson to you, you bastard! Is this why I was transferred for? Because if it is, I would like to be transferred back."

"No... You were actually transferred here for a different purpose. I was just hoping that you'd share my point of view."

"Your point of view?" Grayson asked in a horrified tone. "Did you actually think that I would let you turn a couple of kids, barely in their teens, into murderers? Into tools for your sick games."

"It's war, Grayson. War has its price."

"War against whom? If you want a war I could call Dick and Alie in here and let them use you as a scratching post." There was the sound of the door opening and Grayson yelling. "Richard! Alexandria! Get in here."

We didn't hear when he called out to us as we were too deep into the housing hall to hear anything that came from outside.

"No!" Linens said over the speaker.

"Then you leave them alone! Do you hear me you son of a bitch?" Grayson sounded furious. "You leave them alone, if I see you talking to them without my permission, I'll have them claw your eyes out. Are we understood, soldier."

Linens mumbled something incoherently.

"Are we understood?" Grayson had repeated.

"Yes."

"'Yes' what?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, I'll be expecting a full report about my duties in the morning. I don't care what you do with any of the other people that volunteer but I was transferred to run this facility and that's what I'll do. Is there a problem with that?"

"No, sir."

"I didn't think so. I'm going to go lay down before I have a stroke or something." Grayson sighed and walked out of the door. The spell phone made some static noise then quieted as Grayson spoke into it: "Stay away from Linens, Richard, Veronica, Alexandria...stay away from that man."

"How did he know that you were recording it?" Alexandria asked then jumped and screamed once when someone's hand was placed in front of her face. It was an older hand, hair coming out of the back side and arm. The hand shifted and an eye was in the palm.

"How many times do I need to remind you that I could see what you're doing at all times?" Grayson asked.

We all turned and saw him. Veronica bolted forward and hugged him. Alexandria and I followed and showed our appreciation for his affection by embracing him. He returned the gesture and promised that he'll never let anything happen to us, as long as he could help it.

-0-

A year l passed and the hall was getting crowded. There were a little over 610 people now, about 294 of with where male and the other 316 are female.

We were all trained to use our powers efficiently and in different ways. The animal species where trained by a woman named Angela Panithy while the others were trained by Linens and Grayson, who was mostly there to keep an eye on Veronica.

Veronica didn't want to train as she didn't like the fact that she wasn't a typical girl but she gingerly agreed after the others labeled her a narcissist. The training was only two hours a day and optional, as it was summer and the heat was in full effect by mid day. The training started at ten, Grayson's decision as he didn't want the people to think of the training as a chore but as an alternative to living as an outcast.

It was about nine at night and we all sat in the dining hall as we ate a late dinner.

"Richard, give me a woll." 11 year old Evelyn said as and held out a hand.

I got a dinner roll and through it straight in the air. The roll went about 15 feet higher than the girl's head as everyone around stopped talking and stared.

Evelyn looked up at the roll then jerked slightly as her pigtails bolted up and extended into the top of the dining hall and caught the bread roll and pulled it down. The extended hair shrunk back into her head but her pigtails held the bread in front of her. She split the roll in two and used a silver bread knife to spread butter on them before taking the buttered roll from her hair with her hands and bit into it.

She smiled at me as she chewed, the way that only a little kid can smile. Evelyn was an 11 year old girl who had been an orphan her entire life. She came here about three weeks ago after she had been kicked out of her orphanage. She wasn't able to control her powers so her hair was always long so the other kids picked on her and she would accidentally lash out at them with it. Her stay in the orphanage came to a close when she accidentally knocked the head mistress out through a window on accident when she impulsively attacked another kid who moved out of the way. The head mistress lived after falling out of the second story window but the other employees took the mistress' absence as a chance to throw the girl into a car and dump her a few miles away. Alexandria and Veronica found her during one of their walks and brought her here.

"Wow Eevee, you caught that pretty high up." Veronica said as she sat down next to me. She and Alie, as well as another girl named Brianna, like to go for walks in the evening. They say that it's for exercise but I followed them once and they spent the entire time in girl talk.

"I had been practicing; I still can't do it without jittewing before I use it though." Evelyn said.

"Well I'm sure you'll learn to control that one of these days." Alexandria said as she reached from behind me and took a sausage from my plate.

I bobbed my head back and pushed against her breasts then quickly bobbed my head forward.

"Hey!" She protested. "Those aren't cushions, you know."

"No they're pillows." I replied as my index finger turned furry and my nail sharpened into the white tiger claw that extended from my finger. I stabbed the sausage piece that my sister didn't bite into and stuck it in my mouth as I shifted my finger back to human to unhook the sausage.

"No, they're..." She said stopped as she noticed a lot of the males around her stare as they waited for her to call her breast by name. "...never mind." She said and sat on my other side.

We sat and ate and talked, amongst ourselves as well as the others in our group, until Grayson stood up and clung his glass for silence then stopped when people made motions as they couldn't hear him.

Grayson looked around then towards his pant leg as someone had pulled on it. He smiled then bent down and picked up an 8 year old girl and followed to place her on the table. She didn't live here with most of us; she was dropped off by her father who worked at all hours of the day and weekends too.

Huyton Industries, where we lived, had added a ward that did research on most types of dark ones, whether they were Night Warriors or not. I haven't seen it but I heard that all subjects were volunteers but the medicine and treatments given would have all sorts of side effects that might need treating at any time of day so different doctors were there at all times.

The girl adjusted her shirt and reached out for Grayson's hand then opened her mouth wide.

"Hello? Testing! One, two, three." Grayson's voice said as it was amplified over the little girl. She had the power to touch an object and transform it, so she had learned to use other's people senses and amplify them.

Grayson looked at me for confirmation that he was heard. I nodded and he smiled then continued.

"Welcome, Night Warriors, to the first annual dinning at midnight. Yes, before anyone says anything, I know that it's 8:31 and not midnight. But I'm old and need my early sleep."

A wave of laughter broke out. Grayson had seemed to acquire a sense of humor in the last year, be wasn't about to start doing stand-up but hit was a start.

"No, Mr. Linens has to go back to Pennsylvania tomorrow; I know he's taking some of you with him. Please know that you all will be missed and welcomed back here at any time." He stopped as a boy whooped behind me. "Except for him, we won't miss Mr. Andrews." People laughed and shoved him lightly. "No, I'm joking, he will be missed."

Grayson continued talking but stopped when the girl closed her mouth to swallow some spit.

"Are you okay, Penny?" I heard Grayson say. The girl smiled and nodded then opened her mouth again. "Thank you Penny. But as I was saying: we are going to lose some people tomorrow but even as they are going to be missed, they will still be part of us. They will still be Night Warriors."

The girl named Penny coughed loudly as Grayson was cut off abruptly.

"Penny, it's okay. Let's stop." Grayson said.

Penny shook her head and pointed at a boy near her who had tossed some food into her opened mouth with made her choke slightly. Penny inhaled then puffed the air out and the boy was pushed and fell backwards from his chair. He hit the floor on his back as laughter broke out. The boy scrambled to his feet then put the chair back, said that he was sorry, and sat down. Penny then arranged her hair, took Grayson's hand again and opened her mouth.

"Any chance of you taking him with you, Linens?" Grayson asked as people laughed. Linens smiled then said something that sounded like "you can have him, I don't want him."

Linens was still keen on starting his army but lost interest on Veronica when she showed little to no improvement on her training. Veronica, who never tried on purpose, was waiting for Linens to leave before she would really start her one on one training with the next instructor who had already agreed to personally train her.

"As you all know: we are here to help you all train and use and control your powers. I believe that we had done that on most of you. Even Richard," Grayson said as he signaled at me "has showed improvement on using his white tiger powers. The same Richard who wouldn't learn to take a shower every day or learn his geography. Richard, where's Africa?"

I looked around as everyone turned to look at me. I shrugged as a boy whispered in my ear. "It's in South America..."

"It's in south America." I repeated and several people laughed.

Grayson started saying something but stopped and laughed when his voice kept being cut out by Penny's laughter.

"No, Richard. It's on the other side of the world, by Europe." He said. "Well regardless of Richard's lack of geographical knowledge, Linens... I mean Jacob will be missed. We are getting another professor named Mary-Anne Zala who will take over." He gestured and a woman in her late 40's stood up and waved at everyone while smiling. "As far as I know, that's all that will change. Sorry but I'm still going to be here." People groaned them laughed as Grayson gestured at them appreciatively. "I will still have an open door policy, so if anyone needs talk or to complain or to tell me anything then my door is always opened. And if it is closed then please break it down as I am dying or something. That is all."

Smiles spread through the crowd then broke out into applause. Penny put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. The sound came out altered and harmonious that spread through the crowd, then turned to face Grayson and clapped along with the others but stopped when he helped her down then began to walk away. He passed Alexandria, Veronica and I.

"How did I do?" He asked.

"Great!" Veronica said immediately, she wasn't lying. He had been working on that speech for a little over a month. He had practiced it on us at least a dozen times.

"You kids are awesome." He said and walked back towards the doors that lead to the halls when the doors flew open in front of him.

A man in leathers stood by the doorway. He panted loudly as Grayson walked up to him. I stood up and went to help Grayson as Veronica, Alexandria and a boy named Deon stood up and ran towards the men. I recognized the man in leathers as I ran closer: it was Rewall. He wasn't covered in blood anymore, with was good as it probably would have scared the others.

Grayson helped him up as I reached both of them. I took Rewall's other arm and supported him as we took him into the elevator that headed up and into the bed chambers.

-00-

"He told us, two days later after waking from his 47 hour sleep-a-ton, that the base had broke into panic. The higher ups refused to give any of the privates a rank increase and the extra money that came with it. So the privates rebelled and killed several of them. Fiona, I found out later, got hurt and had to attack some of the privates. She, Gena and some of the higher up. His inside of the women's bunker as she constantly electrocuted the walls so nobody would be able to get in. The privates then high jacked a tank and ran the back of the women's door over and tried shooting at them with the cannon but were too inexperienced to be able to fully run it. Fiona went up to the tank and electrocuted it, she only wanted to disarm it but she ended up causing the inside mechanisms to explode. The lid of the tank wasn't fasten correctly and the explosion seeped out and threw her back through the wall. She was hospitalized for a little under six months." I said.

We all hung around my backyard again as I told the story. The group had now included Helena and Zeke and Jeffrey and Lilian and their children. Jonathan and Christine had joined too. I had never told them our story so they were fascinated by it.

"So how did that evil prick get there?" Jonathan asked.

"Rewall?" I asked. "He never admitted to it but he had instigated the riot from both sides. He had convinced the higher ups to not promote the privates to save money, and he also had convinced the privates that there was this huge promotion coming up. It wasn't too hard to rally them up when he had made the higher ups announce that no promotions would be issued. He had gotten with Gina who told him where we were going to be and he simply glided here on his wings as the army base burned and got engulfed in chaos. Fiona told Grayson about what happened when we visited her after she woke up."

"So when does Melissah come into play?" Lilian asked as she snuggled close to her husband.

"Melissah?" I asked as I tried to associate a face to the familiar name. "Oh yeah... Her father brought her about two months after the first anniversary. She had little to no control over her telekinetic powers so she was seen as scary and distant. Her father brought her with hopes of helping her be able to control her powers. She ended up spending more time in the Industries than she did at home. She also befriended Rewall, which is always a mistake."

"So Rewall was this asshol..." Jimmy started then stared at his mother who stared back with her head cocked at one side. "I mean: so Rewall was this evil person who just wanted to mess with you guys?"

"In a way... Good save by the way. "He wanted to be in control with a group that Linens was trying to create. He was actually on the way to the base to use his powers to convince me to accept the plan even before I transferred to Huyton Industries."

"Wait..." Jonathan asked. "So he has more powers than just being able to fly and creating scythes and stuff?"

"Yes, he was also able to manipulate people's thoughts. He was able to confuse Grayson and made him think that he was the one who thought of the idea of creating the Night Warriors and making them into an army to eventually be used on the United States and eventually the world."

"Holy crap!" Christine said.

"So..." Jeff started. "If they never would have kidnapped Christine and Lily's friend, they probably would have gotten away with it?"

Alexandria nodded and smoothed her lip onto the side.

"Holy crap, mang..." Jeff replied.

"'Mang?'" Jonathan repeated.

"Shut up." Jeffrey replied and most of the group shared a laugh.

"I think that you have had enough to drink." Lilian said as she took Jeff's beer.

"Why do you say that?" Jeff asked. He didn't try reaching for the beer; he had grown to accept that he had had enough whenever his wife said so. "Because I said mang?"

"Yes and because..." She started then pointed at the half group of beer bottles that were two away from being a dozen.

Jeff opened his eyes then stopped himself and smiled. "I must be drunk, because you looked good for a second there."

Lilian scoffed and shoved Jeff away when he had lean in to kiss her. We all laughed as Jeff stood back up then sat down and claimed that he never wanted to go to the bathroom.


	7. Chapter VII: Shadows and the Girl Who Co

_Chapter VII_: **Shadow and the Girl Who Controls Them.**

It had been a year since we had gone on any road trip but the four of us, Grayson, Alexandria, Veronica and I, sat in the car on our way back to southern Texas to visit The old base, which Rewall said that was probably destroyed now.

Grayson let me drive a part of the way. I was now 15. Still too young for a permit but Grayson decided that I might be able to start learning since I could already steer the car somewhat. Proof of that was that we were still alive on the several occasions that I took the steering wheel from Grayson. I did it once for Fiona when she was putting some make up on, but she made me swear to never tell Grayson.

Veronica was busy on the phone as she texted some of the people back in HI, Huyton Industries for short.

We pulled up into the base which was now burned and mostly destroyed. The gate where private Longfist would always be stationed in was still in functioning conditions though. We drove through the opened gate and into the base; Grayson passed the parking lot and stopped next to the ruined women's bunker. The rear part was still up but there was a hole in the wall, where it looked like someone had thrown someone or something through it. There were no reports that either Fiona or Gina were still alive. The only thing we have heard was a report that spoke of the six females, as well as many more males, that were dead. None of us wanted to say it, we wanted to be optimistic. Grayson assured us that if Fiona was alive, that she would know that we would head there as soon as possible and meet her here. She, of course, wasn't anywhere to be seen. The only building with standing walls was the women's bunker and even then it was only most of the end and part of the side walls.

"They practically build these things out of paper these days." Grayson mused as he tore a piece off with a light jab.

"My bed was right here..." Veronica said as she stood on top of a pile of wood and a torn and stained mattress.

"Mine was here." Alexandria said as she stood in front of a part that was by a half destroyed wall, the bed compartments were still there but the mattress was missing.

Grayson walked up to a ruined bunk bed that was by the door. He stared at it for a few seconds then bent down and lifted the mattress. A small red box with a small heart shaped lock lay there. Grayson signaled for me to hold the mattress the let go when I did. He bent down and picked it up then blew on it to clean it from the dust. He looked at it then rotated the box several times.

"It's locked..." Alexandria said.

"Yeah... It is. Hold it." Grayson said and gave the box to Alexandria, who examined it, then reached for his wallet. He open the bill compartment and unzipped a back part then pulled out a small gold heart shaped key. I never asked her why she gave me this. Or even where it went. I just assumed that it was something that she didn't need as she said she had two."

"Why did you keep it?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I threw it into a drawer after she gave it to me and forgot about it until I was cleaning my stuff out last year. I found the key and thought that I should give it back to her or even forget about it. But instead I just stared at it for a while then threw it into my wallet. I figured it would be safe in the zipper, that way no white tigers could ever find it."

He looked at us and I smiled gingerly back at him.

"Does it fit?" Veronica asked.

"We're about to find out." Grayson said and placed the key into the heart-shaped lock. It slid in easily and turned in the first try. The lock disengaged and he unhooked it from the sloth as the lid opened slightly. A picture fell out and landed upside down on top of some broken gravel. I bent down and picked it up then turned it over. I couldn't help but smile when I recognized the five people in the picture.

The oldest was in his 30's. Wearing a military suit and proudly displaying his brand new General call signs. The female was in her early 20 and wore a white blouse and a knee length gray skirt as her dyed red hair was folded neatly into a ponytail. The next male was a young kid. He was 12 years old at the time. He wore a nice dressing shirt that always felt itchy. His hair was combed and organized. The next female was also 12 and wore some nice dressing pants and an elegant blouse. Her blond hair was in long curls. The next female was 11. She wore a pink flowery dress as well as inch high heels, her hair was long and combed with simple pins so her hair doesn't go over her ears.

"I remember that day." Veronica said and smiled as she stared at the picture with me.

Alexandria smiled and sniffed once as Grayson took the picture from me then let out a long sign.

"She kept pictures of us... I never knew." He said and swallowed loudly. "My family. It says 'My Family' inside of the box.

Grayson fully opened the box and smiled when it was over filled with photos. He pulled out random photos and told us about them, we knew most of them but we just let him tell us anyway.

"This one was in the park for your 12th birthday, Veronica. You wore this bright yellow pants and shirt combination because Gina got you a banana tres leeches cake."

"Tres leches, not leeches." Veronica continued.

"This one is when you three first came to the base," Grayson continued "she was so sure that the three of you would get used to life here, I didn't though. I thought that living here would be too much for you kids."

He stared at a few more pictures and signed loudly then stopped at a specific one.

"This one is when we ate at that fish restaurant that Fiona had been trying to get me to go for almost a month. I ordered the chicken and she laughed at me for getting anything other than fish. Even the waiter looked at me funny."

"I don't remember this one." Alexandria said.

"It was before we met the three of you guys. It was about a year and a half before, actually. The restaurant was new at the time, I believe it's still open, and she wanted fish real bad. This was the night that she stopped calling me Sargent or Sir and called me Robert. She ordered a shrimp bowl with that cocktail sauce and we laughed throughout. She admitted that she actually enjoyed working for me. I assumed that it was because the army was a great place to be, at the time, but now I see that it was because she enjoyed my company and I enjoyed her and that she would do anything for me as I would for her because we saw each other as more than just colleagues but as friends. She swore to always keep me safe and I did the same. She trusted me, I promised that I'd never leave her and that I would be here to protect her and I wasn't... I was out writing a speech... A goddamn speech..." Grayson said as his voice started breaking up. "She needed me, she called me a few days ago and I ignored her call because I was getting rehearsing speech. That speech... That fucking speech was more important to me than her life. I thought... I thought that... I thought that she just wanted to talk or something... I thought that she was trying to give me an update on the base, something that could wait for later and it seems that she wanted some guidance on what to do...and I..." He said as he broke into something very close to tears. "I...ignored her... I hit to side button on my phone and silenced the call. I heard the message over and over again on the way here... She was hysterical asking me to pick up... She was asking me where she could go, what she could do, to help. And... I ignored it." I walked closer to Grayson and hugged him and Veronica did the same. Alexandria put the box on top of the lowered mattress and joined us as we tried comforting Grayson with our presence.

"It's my fault. Six women are dead; there were only six women in the base... They had to be the only six females in the base at the time."

"Lydia..." Alexandria said.

"Maria..." Veronica continued.

"Autumn..."

"Monique..."

"And...Gina...and Fiona." Grayson choked out and wiped some tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

"And here I thought that men didn't cry." A person said from behind us.

We all turned around sharply and looked at a figure standing on top of the rubble that used to be the women's bunker's bathroom.

The figure stepped closer and we were all surprised to see Gina, the medic, standing in the moon light.

"GINA!" We all said at the same time and ran up to her.

Grayson stopped in front of Gina and hugged her tightly.

"Whoa, okay there Sarge- Whoa!" She cried out as Grayson lifted her off the ground and shook her a few times."

"Gina! I thought you were dead!" Grayson laughed out as he shook Gina as if she were a rag doll. "They said that six women died, so I was sure that you were amongst them."

"I will be if you...don't let me...breathe...sometime soon!" Gina gasped out and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Right." Grayson said and put Gina down. She wobbled slightly then leaned on me for support.

"Man... You sure can bear- holy crap, look how big you guys have gotten!" Gina let out as she looked at us.

I was 5'11 now and starting to get some muscles as I spent some time in the gym at HI. My face had light facial hair and I tried growing a mustache but it wouldn't happen.

"Richard, you look nice and handsome. Girls! I see you're developing nicely!" She let out and hugged me tightly.

"It's good to see you, Gina! We thought something bad happened to you." I said as I held her back.

"Even your voice darkened; do you have a girlfriend yet? What do you guys do in the NM?" She asked as she shifted expectantly.

"Well..." I started but was cut off by Grayson who cleared his throat.

"Gina, what happened here? Are you okay? Where are Fiona and the others?" He asked.

Gina stopped interviewing us and turned to look at Grayson. "You're no fun, Grayson..." She said and took the time to explain what had happened in the base.

"So she has been in a coma since that day. She really got hurt and passed out almost immediately." She continued. "A couple of lion brothers were walking by and helped us carry Fiona and some of the wounded out and into my car where I drove them into the hospital. I can take you to Fiona if you'd like."

"That would be great." Grayson said and stood up from the pile of gravel he had been sitting on.

-0-Fiona-0-

I awoke to the familiar darkness that had plagued my life for the last few days. I felt numb and disoriented as I stared into the darkness. A sense of self came over me as I stood in the void.

"Her heart...ormal...she might be able to...us, which is a...sign...on her Ryan." A voice said. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, in the void.

"Hello." I said but nobody answered. "Can anyone hear me?"

"...oving, it might be s...up soon." The voice said. "Please keep...person avail...all times."

"Yes, doctor." A second, male, voice said.

I stared around me in this darkness as I tried remembering what happened and where I might be. I always prided myself on not being like most women, I didn't have the damsel in distress mentality like most women do. I liked to think that I could look after myself all the time but that wasn't true for anyone of either sex.

"Let's see..." I mumbled and my voice seemed to echo. "I was at the base...getting dressed... Why? It wasn't casual...I wore a dress. Why would I wear a dress, I mean other than the obvious." I paced in the darkness, although pace might not be the correct word for it as it felt that the darkness moved to accommodate my walking even though I was walking in place. "A date. With who? Robert? No he's in New Mexico now... I wonder how the kids are doing... Wendy! No Gina will look after her... Why was I getting ready?"

I stopped and looked up sharply as I sensed people walking around. It felt as if I was countless number of people, but I couldn't see anyone.

"Is anyone there?" I cried out and found it weird that my voice didn't seem to travel at all. "Hello?"

I sensed that one figure stopped in front of me as the feeling of being surrounded quickly went away.

"Fiona." Someone said. I sensed a person standing in front of me, a few dozen feet back. But I couldn't verify that as the void was dark.

"Hello?" I asked again.

"Fiona, I'm sorry." The voice repeated. "I shouldn't have left you guys there all alone."

It took a second but I recognized the strained and saddened voice.

"Robert!" I yelled in the darkness but he didn't seem to hear me.

"Did she respond? Can she hear me?" Robert asked.

"I can hear you, Robert! Robert!" I yelled.

"It seems...can hear you as her...keeps spiking when you...to her." A woman said. It must have been a nurse.

"A nurse?" I asked myself, not knowing how I knew that. "Why would there be a nurse? There would only be a nurse if...that's right. People attacked the base... No...our own people rioted... I hid in the bunker with Gina and...some other people...and...oh...that's right." I stammered as I slowly remembered being thrown through the wall as the tip of my hair and dress was on fire.

"I have the kids here, if you want to talk to them." Robert continued and I snapped back from my thoughts. I felt three more people stand by the figure that I could sense but not see.

I sensed that the new figures where children. About 5' at most. This was odd when I heard the first one speak.

"Hi Fiona, we miss you. Please don't die." The first voice spoke. It was a male's voice. It had to be as it was deeper yet caring. It took me a few seconds before I came to a conclusion on who it was, who it had to be.

"Richard?" I asked and heard a rapid beeping that slowly returned to a regular pace.

"Is she able to hear me?" The voice asked.

"She...hear you. You guys talking to h...ght help her...back." The female voice said.

It dawned to me that I couldn't hear the woman's voice as clearly as I could hear Robert's or even the male who I thought was Richard. To think of it. I was able to hear Gina perfectly when she visited two days ago. It must be clearer with people I knew for some reason.

"Hi, Fiona!" Another voice said. It was higher in pitch so it had to be female but I didn't know who it was. The female's voice didn't fade or cut out so I assumed that it was someone that I knew as their voice wasn't cutting out.

"Fiona, you need to wake up, I want you to make us some of that cake brute thing you used to make, and I miss those." The voice continued.

I smiled and mounted the name, Vee. I had learned to make some crème brûlée a few months back and she really enjoyed them, even though she never was able to say it correctly.

"I think she heard me too." Vee said.

"I can hear all of you! Don't let Dr. James give me a slings bath, he seems to enjoy them a bit too much!" I cried out but they were t able to hear me.

"Fiona, we miss you!" Another female voice said. It had a slight accent and spoke a bit slower. It had to be Alexandria. "Grayson most of all, he dreams about you most nights."

"What?" Grayson let out, forgetting that he was sad. "How do you know that? Have you been sneaking in my room again?"

"I don't have to, good hearing remember." Alexandria replied. I couldn't help but laugh as it confirmed that he did miss me.

"You kids are..." Grayson started but stopped as rapid beeping was heard.

"I think she can hear us." Richard said.

"Richard! I can hear you! Hello?" I yelled but nobody replied.

"She has...coma...she...recovery...probably...ext week." A voice said and I recognized it immediately. It was my doctor. Dr. James. "...'t worry about her...strong I'm sure that she'll recov...nicely. You're welcomed to visit any...you want...but please...have to clean her up."

"No! Get him away from me!" I yelled. "Damn it... I'm going to kick Robert's ass..."

-0-Richard-0-

We walked out of the room as the doctor checked the vital signs once more as they spiked as we were leaving, almost as if Fiona didn't want us to leave. A nurse brought in a tray with warm water and a sponge then closed the doors.

We sat in the lobby for about 20 minutes until the doctors announced that we could go in if we wanted to.

The room now smelled pleasant and clean. They did before but the soap they used helped. Fiona had a new hospital gown. Her hair was combed and tied into a ponytail. The machine beeped rapidly then calmed down when we spoke. Grayson spent an hour explaining what had happened in the last year. He told her about the different dark ones that had come and went and about the type of life.

"It is really different. The kids, well most are teenagers, but they walk around in their animal forms. They are comfortable with them now. The others that are not animals are not ashamed of passing through walls or teleporting across the room or levitating."

"Maria still is, but she's new." I said, remembering the small redhead girl that came into HI about three weeks ago.

"Well yeah, but the others are comfortable there. Rewall, that guy we rescued from the streets before we left, found his way-" Grayson started but stopped when Fiona started jerking up and down as the heart beat beeped and spiked uncontrollably.

We all stood up from our seats and tried holding her down as she jerked.

"Alexandria, get someone!" Grayson yelled.

My sister nodded quickly and ran out through the doors and looked around then yelled "Help us!" and moved aside as a male nurse ran in. He slammed his hand over a blue button on top of the bed and dug into a drawer. He pulled out a needle and examined it then taped it twice with his index finger as a doctor walked in while putting some rubber gloves on. He took the needle from the male nurse and stuck it into the plastic slot connected to the tube in her arm as the male nurse held her hand down. It took a few seconds but Fiona stopped jerkins and just lay there with an increased heart rate.

"What happened?" The doctor asked us.

"Nothing, we were just talking to her." Grayson replied.

"You must have told her something to upset her. It's obvious, now, that she can hear us. Or could." He replied.

"Could?" Grayson asked, alarmed.

"I gave her a sedative to knock her out. She should be fine when it wears off." The doctor said as he took his gloves off and placed two fingers on her wrist and began mounting numbers as he measured her pulse to if the machine was working correctly. "She should wake as soon as she recovers. A lot of patients that get hurt severely and are placed in such a state get up when- ow what the?" He exclaimed and shook his hand.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"I just got electrocuted." He said and stared at Fiona. "How could that be?"

Grayson was about to say something when Fiona opened her mouth slowly.

She inhaled loudly with a wheeze then stopped. Her hand started moving slightly and Alexandria held her hand out under Fiona's.

Fiona let her hand lay on Alexandria's palm then lifted it and stretched her fingers. She dragged and tapped her fingers along Alexandria's hand. Fiona's facial expressions changed as she continued to slowly drag and tap her fingers on Alexandria's palm as Alexandria mouthed some words.

"Watch...out...for... R...e...w...a...l...l... Watch out for Rewall? He...is...Dang...er...ous... Dangerous? Watch out for Rewall? He is dangerous?" Alexandria repeated as Fiona's hand went limp on her side.

"Fascinating!" The doctor said as he adjusted his lab coat.

"Dangerous?" Grayson asked.

-0-

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Grayson yelled as he lifted Rewall off the ground by his shirt and slammed him onto the wall.

"What...are you talking about?" Rewall replied in his cool and snake like voice.

"Fiona, we went to see Fiona today, and she told Alexandria that you're dangerous. Why would she do that?" Grayson asked and I saw that he held back the urge to punch Rewall.

"I didn't do anything. Are you sure that she didn't mean that I was IN danger? I'm sure that she told you in morse code. I'm sure that her morse code was uncanny but I wonder much mush might have been lost in translation by Miss Kitty Kat there."

"Grayson grinded his teeth loudly and stared at Alexandria and mistook her look of worry as a look of doubt and reluctantly dropped Rewall who landed on his feet and dusted himself off.

"I'm sure that she meant that I was in danger, I was almost killed when I fled. I tried helping some people on my way out. I tried helping her but she refused my help and told me to get out and head here to safety." Rewall said. I could help but hear a slight ping in his voice.

Grayson grunted loudly then turned around and began to walk away then stopped and looked back. "If I find out that you're the cause of what happened in the base, I'll make sure that you don't get out of here alive." Grayson growled.

-0-

Six months passed. This was first October that we spent in New Mexico. Alexandria and I spent most of our time together now. Veronica spent most of her time with the doctors as she helped with their look for a "cure" to what they call The Darkness Gene. The Darkness Gene is what's supposed to make a dark one what they are. There was never a shortage of volunteers as a lot of people were dark ones and hated it. A lot of those people hated their abilities so much that they would rather die than live with it. Grayson would say. He never did prove that Rewall was behind the incident in the base by Corpus Christi. Gina didn't know either as she only happened to be there. Fiona would as she was more involved with the incident but she wasn't exactly conscience at the moment. She had been in her coma for a little over a month now. Grayson used to call Gina every day for a status update. About three months ago he would call every other day. And a month after that he would call once a week. Now he has me or Alexandria call for him. He doesn't even seem to notice when we update him with the info. He has been spending some time with Rewall as Grayson became interested in the experiments.

HI was packed with dark ones now. Alexandria and I now shared a bed in her room as someone occupied mine. Most of the kids were gone, for one reason or another. Grayson stopped paying attention to most of the dark ones all together about a month and a half ago. He left Rewall in charge of that.

"Hey..." Alexandria started as she ate lunch.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Let's go say hi to Veronica and Grayson. I haven't seen either of them all week." She replied.

I shuttered on the inside but I could see that she wanted to check up on them so I agreed. We finished out lunch and walked out of the dining hall and entered the elevator with several adult dark ones. Some were animals while others didn't look like anything more than human. But I knew that the man with his hands in his pockets was dangerous and could make things dissolve when he wanted to.

We reached the top and walked out. Several of the adult dark ones walked out and left the building while the man with his hands in his pockets walked to the back and continued his guard duties.

We never needed guards. People were free to leave and enter as they saw fit but Grayson, as a suggestion from Rewall, decided to add security.

"That guy creeps me out..." Alexandra said and held herself.

I smiled and took her hand into mine as we walked past the, now empty offices, and headed down the corridor to where the paint and drywall stopped and the bear rock and stone started.

Rewall had several of the older dark ones, which volunteered, dig an underground tunnel that lead to an elevator onto the research facility. The hallway stretched for a few minutes as the sends of walking on a slight slope came over me.

We turned the corner and stood in a hallowed out cavern that always crept me out. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just made me feel uneasy. I could see that it had the same effect on Alexandria.

I pulled her forward and headed towards the elevator doors when a man stepped sideways from out of nowhere. We both flinched as we were expecting him but not like that.

"Password, little tigers?" The man said in a smooth voice.

He was the guard to the elevator. He slept inside of a pocket dimension that overlooked ours and would normally be out in the open but I guess that he didn't expect visitors today.

"Into Oblivion." I said and walked forward. Grayson changed the password frequently, in the last month and a half but made sure to keep Into Oblivion, named after our last name, available as a password for us.

The man stopped me and smiled ominously.

"Sorry, little tiger. That no longer works... Per Grayson, you see. So if you don't know the password, please go back the way you came.

"Into Oblivion is always available." I said.

"It was...but not anymore. Per Grayson, as I said earlier. Please run along and play." Be said and motioned for us to leave.

"No, we're going in there. We need to talk to Grayson." I replied.

"If he wanted to talk to you l, then he would have given you the password." The man said and gestures with his hands.

I jumped when somebody touched my arm. I turned around quickly and saw Marisa, a dark one about my age, standing there with her hands on my shoulder.

"Marisa, when did you get there?" I asked as she smiled at me.

"Seriously, dear, your hearing isn't all that great for a white tiger." She said with a voice that was a little higher than it should be. She had a British accent that made it fun to listen to.

I was about to reply then noticed that the man didn't say anything. He hasn't said anything since Marisa touched my elbow.

I turned around and the man was frozen in mid-sentence. He didn't move or look around. His hair still moved slightly though.

I stared at him for a second then looked at Alexandria who was frozen in time too. She looked like she wanted to disappear into her shoulders. Her hair flapped slightly when I breathed loudly.

"You froze them." I said and turned to Marisa.

"Easiest thing in the world, darling." She replied and motioned with her other hand. "I followed you two down here, wondering if you two were getting into some mischief or something and listened in on your conversation. I was going to tell you that I accidentally overheard the password, which is Exivia-7 by the way, but decided that I should you help you guys enter the elevator. You know, for old time sakes."

I wanted to stick a pencil in my ears, as labs ever she talked she would take and lower her voice and change her pitch. She was fun to listen to in small doses but not so much when it came to having actual conversations with her.

"That would be great!" I said.

"Oh goody!" She said and bounced a little. "Just don't mention me when you get caught okay. Do you promise?"

"I promise." I said and took Alexandria in hand as she came back to life. I explained what was happening.

Marisa had the power to freeze a person's perspective on time for a time. She used it whenever she was doing something that she shouldn't, which was often. She was one of the few people that were about our age, so we became friends. She wanted some extra bread one night and she can't use her powers on the cafeteria Nazi lady as she could dispel anyone's influence on her. Marisa has no idea how to be sneaky as she has her power, but I've been sneaking out forever now so I could be as quiet as a mouse.

We walked into the elevator slowly as we avoided the man but made sure to always be touching each other or Marisa.

The elevator had two panels with unlabeled buttons on each side of the door. I stopped Marisa from hitting a random button as the one she was going to push would jam the elevator, just another of Grayson's added security. He's took us up there a few times so I was able to memorize which buttons actually worked, so I hit the second button from the right in the sixth row and let go of Marisa as the doors began to close. I didn't even get to say thanks when I saw Alexandria and me standing inside of the elevator. We turned around to see the second set of closed doors. We weren't moving which meant that we had already reached the second floor but the doors closed. I pushed the open doors button and they slid open. We walked out and looked around at the bright blue walls that covered the research building's interior.

A girl walked out of the door at the end of the great entrance and stared at us then looked back and called out to Grayson.

"Grayson, your son and daughter are here." She said.

I wanted to say "he's not our father", a sentence that I haven't said in a little over nine months, but I thought that Alexandria would not appreciate it.

Grayson walked out and looked at us then turned back to the girl. "Thank you, Melissah." He said and walked towards us. "Uh... Dick, Alie. What are you guys doing here?"

It has been a week since I've seen him, and he already looked different: He wore some casual pants and a dress shirt. His hair was messy and his narrow eyes and darkened skin under his eyes told me that he hasn't been sleeping enough, again.

"Fiona is showing signs of recovery. She woke up for a few minutes then fell back into the coma. The doctors believe that she will be awake any day now." Alexandria said quickly.

"Really? That's good, how did you kids get passed, Xio?" Grayson asked.

"We just told you the best news in months and you're worried about your guard?" I asked, not hiding my anger.

Grayson started to say something when Veronica stepped out through the doors that led into the labs. "Hey, guys!" She yelled out and waved frantically.

I shoved Grayson as I pushed passed Grayson and towards Veronica. He didn't say anything and simply walked after us.

"How's Fiona?" Veronica asked as she hugged us.

"She woke up for a few minutes, Vee!" Alexandria said.

"She did? Awesome! We should go visit her!" Veronica said and beamed happily.

"Can we go Grayson?" Alexandria asked.

"Once our work is done, how is it going Veronica?" Grayson said and yawned.

Alexandria took hold of my hands and I was grateful that she did as I would have turned around and punched him as hard as I could.

"Oh... It's going... Okay. 1176 and 1178 seem to be suppressing the DG but they don't seem to have any long term effect. 1177 and 1179 seem to be reacting negatively to it and 1180 passed away this morning. Mr. Archer just told me." Veronica said.

"Hmm... Keep me informed." Grayson said and began to walk away.

"Keep you informed of what? Your fucking experiment or Fiona?" I yelled before I could stop myself.

"Both." Grayson said indifferently.

"The password doesn't work." Alexandria said.

Grayson stopped and sighed. "I'll talk to Xio; I'll tell you the new one later when I see you in the dorms."

"You haven't been there in a week..." Alexandria mumbled.

I wanted to call run up and punch him as hard as I could but I held myself back. I would take my anger out on the punching bag later.

"He's acting really weird." Veronica said. "He won't let me leave until we get some success."

"What's come over him?" Alexandria asked.

"He's been acting weird ever since he started hanging out with Mr. Rewall." Veronica said. "Mr. Rewall isn't a bad guy but... Never mind."

"No what? What's up with Rewall?" I spat out. Veronica jumped at the sound of my voice. I breathed and let air out slowly. "Sorry... I'm just so mad right now."

"He just wants to get this research done." Veronica said and hugged me. I could never thank her enough for that small comfort. "Mr. Rewall... Seems to have a gift for convincing people. I'm not sure if that's because he is a dark one of if it's just an ability he possesses."

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"In there with Grayson." Veronica said and pointed at the door that Melissah and Grayson walked through. "I want to do something guys; I need your opinion though."

"What is it, Vee?" Alexandria asked.

"I think I found a cure for the DG. But all of our volunteers are receiving medication already. I'm thinking of trying it on myself. It was created with some of my blood so it should work on me. It shouldn't cure it for long. A few minutes, an hour or two at most. But if it works then it's a step in the right direction."

"Isn't that dangerous? Injecting yourself with untested medicine." Alexandria asked.

"It is, normally. But Mr. Rewall, Mr. And Mrs. Archer and I spent the last week perfecting it. It didn't kill a test rat that we tried it on so it looks pretty safe."

"What if it hurts you, Vee?" I asked. "What if it kills you?"

"It won't. It's not lethal. We made sure that I don't react negatively to any of the single ingredients so nothing should happen."

"What if it does?" I asked.

"Mr. Rewall said that it won't. He said that he's 99.9 percent sure that it is safe. For me, that is." Veronica said and showed me a small bottle that alternated between blue and green liquid.

I quickly took the bottle from her and read the hand written label. "The stuff in here could kill you... There must be dangerous chemicals in this..." I said.

"I know, but it's not enough to hurt you, Mr. Rewall said-"

"I don't care what that leathery bastard says." I let out and both girls snapped back. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Veronica. I don't want anything to happen to either of you." I said. "Something weird is going on. Something is really wrong, and Rewall is behind it. I just know. I'm keeping this, Vee... At least until something comes up. But I don't want you injecting yourself with it."

"But..." She started.

"No, Vee..." I said and put the bottle in my pocket. "I don't know what I'd do if something was to happen to either of you."

Veronica started to say something then smiled and blushed. "Okay." She said. "Umm... Richard..."

"Yeah?" I asked and looked at her.

She played with her hair for a few seconds then lurched forward at me. At first I thought she was going to try and get the bottle back so I started to ready myself but stopped when she kissed me. It was the first time she and I had ever kissed anyone. I saw Alexandria stare with her mouth wide opened as Veronica didn't let go.

It took a while but she finally pulled away from me and walked back into the labs without looking at us again. I checked and saw that I still had the bottle. She didn't even reach for it. This meant that she really did want to kiss me.

"I-I-I-I..." I stammered but didn't know what to say.

Alexandria stated at me then began to chuckle. "She's been saying that she wanted to do that but I never took her seriously."

"...What?" I asked, dumbfound.

"Come on lover boy. Let's go back to my room, if nobody has taken it yet." Alexandria said and pulled me back.

"Did she..." I started then stopped when the elevator doors closed behind me.

Alexandria pushed the first button on the bottom right of the left panel and the elevator started going down.

I replayed the kiss over and over as the elevator went down then snapped back to reality when we reached the bottom and saw Xio holding Marisa.

"You did a very bad thing, Time Freezer. Let's see what Grayson does with you... Maybe he'll turn you into a 'volunteer'." Xio said and chuckled.

"No! Leave me alone!" She said as she wore a glowing pendant that stopped her powers from activating.

I snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder twice.

"Huh?" He said and turned around. As I punched him in the face as hard as I could with my hand that didn't fully change into the white tiger paw, in time.

The man staggered back and fell down the three steps and hit his head on the stone that made up the cavern. He lay unconscious as we walked up to Marisa.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said quickly. "One of the Federico brothers threw this over my neck and brought me here after they detected that I used my powers to let you guys through." She took the pendant off and threw it at the man. A hand appeared out of nowhere and took the pendant and disappeared with it again.

"Well that wasn't creepy at all." Alexandria said sarcastically.

"Makes you wonder what else they could make appear... A foot... Their head." Marisa gasped. "I could swear that I saw someone looking at me when I was in the showers.

"Great... Now I'll have to be paranoid when taking a shower." Alexandria said.

"Or bathing." Melissah said.

"Or wearing a skirt." I added.

Marisa looked down almost expecting to see a face looking back up to her. She closed her legs as she wore a black miniskirt.

"I'm wearing pants from now on." She said and we all laughed.

-00-

"Sounds like it was all going to hell." Jonathan said as he bobbed his granddaughter's head slightly, which made her giggle.

"Grandpa, you're messing up my hair." She laughed out.

"Messing up your hair?" Jonathan said. "Oh you mean this? This isn't hair. It's string, remember. We bought it from the string store when you were a baby. I glued it in with glue remember."

"NO!" Terra, Michael and Kassandra's daughter, said playfully. "It's hair. It grows like hair, just like my mommies."

"No, I got some of that magic string that grows like hair. Jonathan laughed out. "We bought this from the string store. Just like your nose. We bought that from the nose store."

"No you didn't!" Terra giggled.

"Yeah, it comes off. Look!" Jonathan said and placed two fingers on Terra's nose and pulled on it once playfully and quickly moved his thumb in between his fingers so it looked like it was her nose. "See!" He said and smelled it his thumb. "I just took your nose. It smells good too. Imma eat it."

"No grandpa! Don't eat my nose! I still need that!" Terra said and reached for Jonathan's hands.

"Sorry, I'm hungry." He said and brought his hands to his mouth and quickly removed his thumb. "All gone, it tasted like chicken."

"Mom!" Terra cried out. "Grandpa ate my nose!"

"Grandpa, give her back her nose. She still needs that." Kassandra said playfully.

"Fine." Jonathan said and acted as if he was throwing up and held his thumb between his fingers again and pushed up against Terra's nose. "There. It has a few bite-marks but its back."

"Grandpa you're so funny!" Terra giggled.

"I'm still waiting on grandchildren." I said and looked at Joanna and Dezirée who were busy texting their male friends. "But to answer your question: yes. Everything started going to hell. Grayson didn't visit us that night but Veronica did."

Aye crossed her arms and cocked her hip then stared at her husband expectantly.

"Not for that. It would have been better if she came over for that." I said quickly when I understood what she was thinking. "Rewall convinced her to take the drug that night. She snuck in and took it from my drawer while Alexandria and I were sleeping."

"Those beds were uncomfortable." Alexandria said as she massaged her neck.

-00-

I awoke suddenly as a bad feeling course through me.

"Richard! Come on!" Alexandria gestured urgently for me to follow her out." She was in her sleeping shirt and some pink panties as she didn't even get dressed.

"What's going on?" I asked as I followed her out and adjusted my shirt.

"Vee came into the room a few minutes ago and took the medicine she was going to inject into herself and ran back towards the labs. Xio says that Grayson doesn't want us up there anymore and won't let me pass. I think that Vee is going to inject herself tonight." Alexandria practically yelled as she ran down the sleeping halls.

A few people stepped out to see what was happening. Some disregarded us and went back to sleep while some followed.

It took us about two minutes to reach the cavern where Xio quickly moved to block our way.

"Leave!" He said.

"We're going up!" I announced as some people looked around the corner.

"Grayson doesn't want either of you two to ever go back up there." Xio said and grabbed my arm and twisted it. Behind my back and dropped me to the ground. He lay behind me now and held me down. "I don't have to repeat myself, do-"

He fell off me when he went silent. I turned around and saw my sister in her partial white tiger form as she held a large rock in her hands. The bottom of it had some blood.

"Good job, Alie." I said and soothed her shaking hand after she threw the rock aside.

"We're going to get in so much trouble." Alexandria said.

A lot of the people followed us into the elevator, some because they were friends and others because they were curious.

I pushed the button that made the elevator go up as we all waited for it to stop. I looked at the people who came with me. Amongst the few people I didn't know at all, there were Deon, Peter and Marisa. I was happy to have them here.

We finally reached the top and Melissah walked towards us. She used her psychic powers to force us all into the elevator. I held into the doors for a few seconds then flinched. The next thing I knew, I was on top of Deon and the doors were closed. I didn't even remember letting go of them. I pushed the button for the doors to open and I saw Marisa with both hands on Melissah's head. Melissah lay still on the floor as she seemed to pulsate slightly. Marisa grunted loudly.

"I can't hold her forever. Do whatever you came to do! And do it quickly!" She yelled.

"Thank you." I said and walked over to the window that looked into the labs.

Veronica flinched when she saw us then continued tying a piece of cloth on her arm and waited for a vein to appear in her arm.

I banged on the glass as hard as I could. It took a few seconds before the glass cracked once.

"No, Vee! Don't do it!" Alexandria said and banged on the glass.

I ran towards the back of the room and turned into my white tiger form and ran, on all fours, and smashed into the glass, shoulder first. The crack seemed to widen by about an inch. Alexandria joined me and we tackled the glass together. It continued to crack as Deon and Peter joined us. Deon was a horse dark one while Peter could use fire. Peter heated the glass in hopes of making it easier to break.

We finally broke the glass and crash landed on the opposite side of the labs. I stood up and felt glass all over my back. I'm sure that the others did too.

I moved closer to Veronica and stopped when I saw Grayson was also held back by a couple of men that I've only seen twice. They worked under Rewall, I doubted that Grayson knew that but I heard them talking once. I saw Veronica finish injecting herself as we were too late.

"No!" Grayson and I let out at the same time.

Veronica flinched but she had already finished.

"I'm...fine..." Veronica said as I walked up to her.

One of the men turned and walked to me as Alexandria turned into her half white tiger form and jumped on all fours to stand between Veronica and me and the man. Her back was bleeding as glass had cut through her shirt and dug into her back and right side.

Alexandria growled loudly and the man took a few steps back.

"How do you feel?" I asked quickly. "What is happening? Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine. Nothing is happening." Veronica replied.

I stammered then hugged her. "Why did you do that? I told you that I didn't want you doing that!"

"I... needed to be sure... I feel fine! It's not like anything bad is going to happen. The drug is made for me, remember?" She said.

Grayson pushed through both men and ran up to Veronica and hugged. "Why did you do that? God alone knows what could happen to you."

All the hate that had been building up towards Grayson disappeared suddenly. He seemed genuinely worried about Veronica.

"How do you feel?" Any side effects? Look at me." Grayson cried out and held her chin with his hand. "Archer! Get over here!"

"What's going on?"

"She took the drug, check her signals."

"What? Why would you do that? We haven't had the chance to fully test it yet! He walked over and pulled out some equipment to check her heart beat. "A little accelerated but that's mostly because of what just happened... Breathe in for me... Breathe out... All seems fine." he started examining her eyes. "Pupils are dilated but that might be exhaustion."

"I'm fine guys, really." Veronica said.

"We should observe you for the next few hours. Who knows what side effects that could have had." Mr. Archer said.

"Please do, I'll double your guys' salary." Grayson said.

"I'm fine guys, really!" Veronica repeated.

"Veronica, are you okay? You're freezing!" Mr. Archer said and held Veronica's arm.

"I'm fine guys, rea..." She said and fell to the ground.

"Veronica!" We all yelled out and surrounded Veronica's unconscious body.

"Archer, is she okay?" Grayson asked hysterically, and looked like his old self again for a moment.

"Heart rate is normal, pulse is fine." He said. "Brain hemorrhage maybe...

Veronica twitched violently once and lay on her back. We all stared wide eyes and I gasped when something whooshed passed me. It cut my cheek slightly as it went passed. I heard something impart something else. I slowly turned around as I saw Deon floating in the air. Blood slowly poured from a cut in his chest as he twitched slightly. I noticed a shadow extend itself from in front of me and pass through Deon's midsection.

Two more shadows extended from behind me and stabbed Deon who died almost immediately.

The shadows wrapped around his hands and pulled them off then disappeared as the now dead Deon lay dead on the floor alongside his two dismembered hands.

The people outside screamed as a shadow flew by and narrowly missed them. Marisa was thrown aside as a shadow flew by where her head was.

I turned to look at Veronica and gasped when her eyes slowly opened. Her pupils where now completely gone and she only had the white part visible. A shadow tossed me and Grayson aside as another slammed Alexandria to the ground. A large shadow appeared and knocked all the people outside into the elevator. The lights of the elevator went out as the doors closed. There was silence for about five seconds that was quickly replaced by the sound of horrible yelling that was heard briefly then silence.

Mr. And Mrs. Archer ran into the back room and hid. Veronica didn't pay any attention to them as she stared at Grayson and me. Her mouth moved as she tried saying something but no sound came out.

Nobody said anything and we all waited for a shadow to pop out and kill us. I shifted into my white tiger form so I would have a chance of dodging anything that might come my way.

Several shadows rushed down from the walls and surrounded the floor under Veronica as she started melting into the ground and disappeared. I heard screaming from the cavern below with my heightened hearing.

"She's downstairs!" I let out and ran towards the elevator. The doors opened slowly and vomited as soon as I saw inside.

Blood covered every inch of the elevator. No body parts were seen as Veronica used the shadows to grind everyone's body into nothing more than blood and the slight dust that covered the blood on the bottom. Half a gallon of blood poured out through the bottom of the elevator and soaked my feet.

Grayson and Alexandria had the exact same reaction when they came close.

"There's another way!" Grayson said and ran to the door he had walked through last time and headed towards the only other door. We were immediately outside. As Grayson continued running. We followed him and made our way back into the front of the building. We walked in and heard screaming and crying.

I separated from the group as I ran into the housing parts and tripped on blood that stained part of the floor. I stood up and ran in as I looked for Veronica.

I ran down the halls as blood stained the floor and walls and doors. I ran into where our dorms where and heard a melody play in a music box. I slowly walked towards the first door of the opening. It was closed but I could hear the song Lithium playing on a music box. I slowly opened the door and turned on the light.

My eyes widened as I saw the blood that covers the walls. I looked around the finally saw Veronica sitting in her old bed. She slept in this room for most of the time that we were here. She began sleeping in the labs when she started helping there so some girl, who was nowhere to be seen, now occupied this room. Some of the posters that had once been on the walls were either torn or replaced. The only thing that really belonged to her was the wooden music box that played Lithium in simple notes.

"I won that for you in the carnival last year, remember?" I asked as I walked forward slightly.

She jerked her head up and I was lifted off the ground and onto the wall by a pair of shadows that wrapped around my arms and stopped right before touching my armpits.

A shadow appeared from behind her and became sharp at the edge and darted towards me. I braced for the impact but it never came. The shadow trembled in front of me then disintegrated into nothing. Veronica sat trembling on her bed and dropped the music box. The melody jumped and started over.

I was put down on the ground again right before the shadows vanished. Veronica lay sideways on the bed and stared passed me with a blank expression.

I sat down in the bed next to her, even though all my instincts told me to run away. I decided to change back into my human form as it was less intimidating.

"I fucked up, big time, Richard." She said and rolled over to not face me. "I simply...lost control. I didn't know who I was and thought that everyone was trying to hurt me. So I did what my instincts told me to do: kill... Is this what it means to be a dark one? To murder and destroy life?"

I shook my head and placed my hand on her arm but removed it when she cringed uncomfortably. "I don't think so. In fact: I know it isn't. I don't want to believe that we just exist to kill people. We love and care and have dreams like everyone else."

"Everyone else doesn't have tails or animal ears or the ability to kill people with shadows..." Veronica said. "I killed who knows how many people, Richard... Friends and strangers alike. How can I live with myself?"

"It wasn't your fault, Vee. The medicine was faulty. Dr. Archer said so. This isn't your fault, Vee." I replied. "You want to stop this from happening. You want to make this never be possible."

She cringed and bursts into tears. "I'm so sorry, Richard. I almost killed you and Alie. I didn't mean to do any of this!"

I moved to lie down opposite her. I stared into her eyes that had a light brown pupil. The center part was slowly returning as the drug was wearing off.

"It's okay; I know that you wouldn't kill me. You're my best friend and I know that you wouldn't kill me, ever." I said and smiled slightly.

"But I hurt you... I hurt everyone..." She said as light blue tears ran down her eyes. It was beautiful yet unsettling.

"I've been hurt before, and I would take any pain to make sure that you were okay." I said.

"Richard..." She started but was cut off as I kissed her. The shadows in the room danced wildly as I held my lips on hers. She stared at me, wide eyed as I closed my eyes.

I didn't let her go until the shadows became still again.

"I never want to hurt anyone again, Richard. I don't want to take the risk." She said.

"You won't hurt us, I know that you won't." I replied.

"Richard!" Alexandria said as she ran passed the hall. "Oh my God, please be okay! Richard! Vee! Where are you?"

Veronica burst into tears again. "I am so sorry, Richard." Veronica said and tried for a smile but couldn't pull it off.

"What are you going to do.?" I asked and shifted so I could hold her arm.

She moved her head to look at my hand then sniffed. "I love you... I love both of you... Even Grayson. He's been distant and weird but I can't hate him, Richard. It's Rewall. He's done something to Grayson. He told me that the drug was safe for me. I'm not sure if he knew or not. Keep an eye on Grayson for me, okay. Make sure that he doesn't do what I did." She said and began to stand up.

I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the bed. "No, Veronica, you don't have to do whatever you're going to-" I said but was cut off when she kissed me.

I mumbled something and finally just enjoyed the moment. I heard some swooshing and Veronica removed her lips from mine. I opened my eyes to see Veronica sinking into a large shadow that was on the bed.

"No!" I yelled and tried sticking my hand through the shadows to pull her out but my hand hit the sheets of the mattress. "Veronica!" I yelled. "Veronica, don't go!" I yelled and tore through the sheets to get to the mattress with my tiger claws. A spring pushed up and stabbed my hand as the last Veronica's body was submerged. Her head went in last.

"I'll miss you guys... Tell, Alie that I'm sorry. I love you, Richard. Thank you...for everything." She said as the rest of her head disappeared into the shadow.

I reached out and grabbed her hair, because I had to do something. Her long blond hair slipped through my fingers as if I didn't hold onto them with all my strength. The shadows dispersed as the last of her hair sunk into it. I stare into the spot that Veronica had sunk into and shook slightly as I just lost my best friend. I jumped at the mattress and completely destroyed the bottom half in hope that Veronica would somehow be hiding inside of the mattress.

Alexandria, Grayson and Zala, the female instructor, opened the door and panted loudly.

"Richard!" Grayson asked. "What happened? Are you okay? Where's Veronica?"

I didn't reply as I sat in silence. Lithium started over on the music box as it lay on the floor. I broke into tears and ran passed them and out of the building.

-0-

I walked back into HI the next day. I had cuts and bruises, some of which I inflicted on myself as punishment for not doing all I should have done to stopped Veronica from taking the drug the night before, others were from a few fights I got into the night before. People asked me questions and gasped as I walked passed but I ignored them all. Some girls whispered between themselves but heard what they said, as I was still in partial white tiger form.

"He has blood all over his feet..." One girl said.

Another girl shook me but I jerked free and kept walking in. Alexandria saw me and called out but I walked right passed her too. I saw a knife lying on the floor and I picked it up as most of the people followed me but stopped when I stood in front of the door that lead into Veronica's room with the knife in hand. It had red tape all over, as a warning to one and all. I used the knife to cut the tape then walked in and closed the door. I made sure that it was locked before I turned around and saw the blood that still covered the walls. The burrow next to the door was heavy and sturdy so I slid it over enough to block the door. I stared at the spring and the half destroyed mattress and remember lying with Veronica. The door handle rattled, slowly at first then hysterically.

"Richard, Richard open this door! Where did you to last night?" Alexandria asked as I simply stood and stared at the mattress.

Alexandria and others tried convincing me to come out but I ignored them all. Even Grayson made time to try and talk to me. If Phyllis was still alive, I'm sure that she would have walked through the wall and tried talking to me, I was secretly thankful that she was one of the people that died when Veronica lost control.

After about an hour of standing by the mattress, I turned and saw the little wooden music box. I walked over and opened it. The melody played the tune to Lithium exempt that it wasn't Lithium.

"She never corrected me..." I said sadly. I didn't recognize my own voice.

The imprint inside of the music box read the word Lilium. I had assumed it was Lithium and Veronica never corrected me because she knew that I would get mad if she did.

A few tear drops fell into the edge of the music box as I cried. I had been doing that none stop for the last 13 hours and I thought that I was done with tears. I threw myself on the good side of the bed and closed my eyes as I memorized the song that looped 1,307 times in the next 49 hours that I spent doing nothing but lying on the ruined mattress and imagined that Veronica lay next to me.

-00-

"I came in and out of sleep who knows how many times. The dreams where always about Veronica. Each dream had the Lilium song playing in the background as the music box was right by my ear the whole time. I dreamt about how we met, the day our parents died, her showing Grayson her power, her in the matching banana yellow pants and shirt, her and me in a future. Her and me... As we were when I last saw her. I finally dreamt of Alexandria, and how she knocked for hours on end, begging me to let her in. Begging me to say something. Begging me to let her know that I was still alive, that I didn't slit my own wrist and had bled to death." I said quietly as Aye and some of the other girls in the group cried. I felt like it but I haven't cried in about 20 years. I was saving mine for some other occasion.

"I thought..." Alexandria started and sniffed loudly then wiped her nose with her sleeve. "I thought that you were going into that room to kill yourself, we all did. I didn't expect to see you alive again. We tried breaking the door down but it didn't budge. Xio, the guard that protected the entrance to Grayson's lab, had the spares but he kept them in his pocket dimension and access to that was cut off when Vee... Offed him."

"I thought about it. I really did. I kept telling myself that I was going to do it when I woke up. I told myself that I would do it the first, second and third time I drifted asleep. I then dared myself to do it the next time. I held the knife in my throat when I heard you knocking once again. You weren't yelling that time. You weren't mad and swearing either. You sounded like you were worried and distressed. You sounded like you were scared for me. That alone made me put the knife down. I fell asleep again and dreamt about you...and mom and dad... How we would be if they didn't die. How we would still be a family... How we would have ended up... How you would come home late and angry because some boy rejected you and how I would go out and kick his ass. I imagined us... And decided that, at the time, we were all we had. We had friends and Grayson and even that leathery bastard. But the only person we needed was ourselves. I awoke with tears on my eyes and finally closed the music box half way through and stood up. I stared at the blood then walked towards the door and opened it. You were standing there. Dark eyed and messy hair. Do you remember what you did then?"

She sniffed then chuckled. "I slapped you. I slapped you as hard as I could then hugged you. I told you to never do that again." Alexandria said and stood up then hugged me. I hugged her back as Aye finished the second box of tissues that her daughters and her started about half an hour ago.

-0-

Everyone was now home and I awoke in the middle of the night. Aye lay in bed as she wore nothing but the blankets. I removed her hand from my chest and put some boxers on and walked out. I headed into the hallway and into a linen closet then pulled on the string that lowered the stairs that lead into the attic. I spent half an hour looking through the family pictures and Christmas cards then found a box. It was wooden and chipped with age. I put my hand on the cover and took a deep breath. I slowly opened the cover and sighed when it didn't make a sound. I noticed some small bits of trash stuck in the revealed gears and removed it with a tiger claw. The music box started slowly then got up to normal speed as the gears span.

I hummed along with the familiar tune.

"Bum bum bum...bum bum bum... Bumbumbum bum bumbumbum bum... Bum bum bum bum... Bum bumbumbumbum..." I turned as I sensed someone behind me. I expected to see, Aye or even one of the girls looking up through the stairs but instead I saw the darkness of the shadows from the only light that came from the hall that seeped into the closet and up the stairs. I closed the music box and walked back downstairs as the music box played a few notes then stopped. I looked back towards the box and it was now missing. I stared opened mouth and realized that I never actually found out if she had died. I smiled and closed the attic access then turned the hall light off.

I got back into bed and wrapped Aye's arm around me again.

"Baby, are you okay?" Aye asked in a lengthy voice.

"Yeah... I'm good." I said and kissed her. She turned around and I wrapped my arms around her as I slid closer and fell asleep.

I dreamt about Veronica. I dreamt that she had started a new life somewhere. It was a good dream, one of the best that I've had in a while.


	8. Chapter VIII: Unconventional Saviors

_Chapter VIII_: **Unconventional Saviors**. 

A month passed and I did nothing but stay in my room and brood. I had my old room back now as the man that occupied it died when Veronica lost control. Alexandria would come over and lay in my bed with me and tried to start conversations with little to no input from my part.

It took 34 days before I actually said something other than "yeah" or "uh-huh" and "sure".

"She isn't dead; at least I don't think so..." I interrupted my sister as she talked about this boy that her friend and she saw.

"...No, we're not sure of that." She said.

A knocking was heard from my door right before it opened. My hearth skipped a beat when Grayson walked in. He was dressed in his military attire that he normally wore back in the base. A small smile curled on my face as I saw him. I was reminded of old times.

"How are you kids doing?" He asked in the same cool and relaxed voice he used when we lived in the base. Hearing that made me remember about Fiona and how I haven't called Gina in a little over a month to check up on Fiona's status.

I was smiling for the first time in over a month as he sat on the side of my bed.

"We're good; Richard is still in his funk though." Alexandria said.

"I know he is..." Grayson said and patted my head. "He practically…well…lost his best friend. That's never easy."

"No... It isn't." I said.

Grayson stared and smiled at me. He had visited me once before and I didn't say a word.

"So he speaks." Grayson said.

"Sometimes..." I replied and couldn't hide my grin.

"You kids will be okay, especially you Richard. It's not easy but these kinds of things happen...although they don't normally happen in this way, but the general concept of things."

"Huh?" Alexandria asked.

"Never mind." Grayson sighed. "I'm going to leave for a month or two, guys. I have to work some stuff out with the old base commanders, the three that lived and some other higher up. Do you kids want to come?"

"No, it's okay. I think that Richard would prefer to stay until he gets better." Alexandria said.

"I'm good, let's go." I said, with little enthusiasm.

"No, you need to rest, mentally." She said and gave me her "it's going to be boring" look.

I smiled and nodded. "Maybe you're right. Next time, G." I said.

"Okay... Homeboy." He said.

Alexandria and I stared at him then at each other and began to laugh.

"What? What did I do wrong? Did I forget to say 'yo' or something?" Grayson asked, defensively.

"No, no. We just didn't expect to hear that from you." I said.

"What? I'm still hip, I'm still IN!" He said and made gestures with his hands.

We both laughed louder and fell back into the bed as Grayson held his hands out and stared at us.

"Who says 'in' anymore, anyway?" Alexandria asked.

"So what do you youngsters say now?"

"'Youngsters'? Okay, grandpa." I said.

"Never mind. Gina called earlier." Grayson added.

Alexandria and I jumped at that.

"What happened, how is she doing?" Alexandria asked anxiously.

"Calm down." Grayson said as Alexandria jumped slightly on the bed. "Gina's fine but Fiona is awake now but she doesn't remember anything that happened. She recognized my voice on the phone and we talked for a little over two hours. She kept asking how the boy and girls that she and I saved from that man in Texas were getting along in the base. I played along as the doctor told me that she has a sort of blood clot in her brain so they're going to have to give her some medication to get it out. If that doesn't work then they're going to perform some minor surgery. We should go and see her when I get back.

"Okay!" I said happily.

Grayson smiled and stood up from the bed. "I was going to ask you kids for a favor." Grayson said.

"What is it, Grayson?" Alexandria asked.

"Since... Xio isn't here to guard the entrance to the labs anymore. I was wondering if you kids would be able to take over. I know that you two know the elevator button layout and the entrance sequence."

"What makes you say that?" Alexandria asked.

An eye opened in his forehead as he stared at us. "I can see you, remember?" He said.

"Okay, we'll do it." I said.

"Sure. Are you leaving today?" Alexandria asked.

"Yeah, well technically I was supposed to leave an hour ago but I got half way there and remember that I didn't say bye to you kids." Grayson said.

Grayson had been acting like his normal self again. He hadn't spent any time with Rewall, who disappeared a little before the Veronica incident.

"Awe, you're so good to us, G." Alexandria said and hugged him. "You're like, totally in."

Grayson laughed and hugged her back. I crawled over and hugged him too. Somehow he had broken me from my funk.

"I'm leaving the instructor's in charge, and please, please, please don't do anything to scare then this time..."

"Hey, Panithy and Zala's daughters begged us to hide them inside of those briefcases." I said reflexively.

"I still don't know what happened that day." Grayson said.

What had happened was that, back when it was mostly kids living here, the instructors (Panathy and Zala) were left in charge with us as Grayson had gone back to Texas without us. So both Panathy and Zala were busy so they sent their 17, 18 and 19 year old daughters to baby sit the 180 something of us. One of Zala's daughter's is a dark one like us and is able to make people obey her, for a while. Her sister and other babysitter got jealous that she was having all the fun with us. They argued until it came down to who was prettier and who was funnier and who had better hair. They argued for a few minutes and we all expected to see a full on, three-way, cat fight when one girl said that she was more flexible than the others. They all argued about it then agreed on whoever could fit into the smallest object wins. One got into an armoire, another fit inside of a kitchen cabinet while the other fit into an old TV stand. They eventually got down to who could fit inside a suitcase. They had Deon Veronica and me close the suitcase after they got in. We did but we locked the duel zippers with hanging wire. The girls begged us to let them out but we simply stuffed the suitcases, with the girls in them, in a closet, one on top of the other, and went to play video games, or went outside and into town or whatever but be trapped inside of HI by three overactive teenage girls. We all went to bed and left the girl's inside of the closet all night. When morning came, Panathy and Zala asked for their daughters and we told them that they took off with some boys. Their mothers got mad then worried when they couldn't find them. HI's chef, Mrs. Everett, eventually passed by the closet which housed the screaming girls inside the suitcases and cut them open. We all expected to get into big trouble when the girls informed their mothers of what we had done but they simply laughed and told the girl's that it was their fault as they got tricked by a bunch of kids who were no older than 16, at the time. It was actually Deon's idea but nobody ever told them that.

"I need to go, guys. I'll talk to you when I get back okay." Grayson said.

"Okay, have a good trip, Grayson!" Alexandria replied as Grayson walked out of my room.

"I missed that side of him." I said.

"Me too."

-0-

We scared off some of the smaller children who tried to get into the elevator. My neighbor, the guy who sleeps in the bedroom next to me, tried going up there and played the 'come on, we're friends' card but we still ran him off. We stood on the edge of the elevator as we waited for someone else to try.

"This is boring." Alexandria complained as she shook her hands by her side and paced in place.

"Quit complaining." I said.

"No, it's boring as all hell. And being boring just makes me all depressed bears." She said.

"'Depressed bears'? What the hell is a depressed bear? Why would a bear be depressed?" I asked and stared at her.

"Shana says it. It got stuck in my head." She said.

"'Depressed bears'?" I repeated. "Sounds stupid."

"It is not stupid, it's cute." She replied. "There's also: bad news bears, happy smiley bears, good news bears, worried bears..."

"You girls are weird." I stated and stared at a figure that walked down the corridor.

The figure disappeared and appeared next to us with smile on her face.

"Evening, you two." She said.

"Evening, Mrs. Everett." We replied.

Mrs. Everett was the chef. She enjoyed cooking for the over 600 people living here, or so she said.

"Dinner time, but..." She started.

"But, what?" Alexandria asked curiously.

"I ran out of dishes and trays so I had to... Um...well..." She said lengthily and held the red tray with two dog dishes with food on them. There were two plastic spoons and forks on the side as well as some bottles of soda. "All I had was this... I'm sorry, it's humiliating I know, but I made sure to not tell anyone that I was bringing these to you guys like this."

"It's alright, Mrs. Everett." I said and took a dog bowl and a fork and dug into the meat. "No harm no foul." The plastic fork broke when I pressed it up against the meat so I threw it behind me.

"Thank you guys, I'll send for more plates so this won't happen again." She said.

"Thank you Mrs. Everett." We both said and she took the sodas from the tray and placed them on the floor next to us, and disappeared.

"I love her, she's so nice." Alexandria said and stuck her plastic fork into the meat but sighed when it broke.

"Mine broke too... I'm using my hands, do you want my spoon?" I asked.

"You don't eat meat with a spoon, Richard... Screw it." She added and lifted the bowl to her face and lifted the meat with her mouth then bit a piece off and dropped it back into the dog bowl.

"That's a good doggy." I said in a playful voice.

"Shut up. It's better than eating with your hands." She said and repeated the process.

"Say's the good doggy, don't you good doggy." I said and patted her head.

"Shut up..." She repeated and shoved my hand away.

-0-

"Do you think that we should just leave this unguarded and go to our rooms to sleep?" Alexandria asked.

It was night now, it had to be. Nobody tried getting in anymore as we scared most off. Alexandria's friend, Shana, came over and talked to her for a while as I went to stretch my legs, a few hours ago. I didn't expect for anyone to come and relieve us from our post but I didn't just want to leave it.

"How about you go and I'll keep watch." I said and yawned loudly.

"Are you sure?" She asked and stretched.

"Yeah, go get some sleep." I said.

"I'll wake up in a few hours and trade with you, okay?" She asked.

"Sure, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Richard."

Alexandria walked down the stone hall and turned the corner as she yawned loudly.

I sat on the cold floor with my head against the wall. I drifted asleep as I noticed someone peak through the corner to see if we were still guarding the entrance. A lot of people saw the research of the medicine, being tested on the floor where the elevator lead, to be blasphemous in a way as it changed the way you were born, in essence. Others were simply curious to see if they could get passed us.

Veronica would never know but by her using the drug on herself, she helped the doctors research what not to do. So they are closer. They have, what they believe to be, a temporary cure. It's supposed to suppress the Dark Gene for 5 hours per dose. It worked on a large amount of subjects while the ones that didn't react well to it would vomit a blue liquid. I didn't know much about it but some of the people that were tested lived in the hall, secluded from us, but their ward was t that far from ours.

I stared at the figure and it went away as I shifted to my white tiger form. I smiled when I didn't see anyone and began to change back when I remembered that I had fur as a white tiger.

"The basic function of fur is... Warmth." I reminded myself and shifted into full form.

It took the wall and floor a few seconds before it heated up with me leaning against it. I moved to lie on the floor and made sure to not move as the stone heated up. I blinked several times as I tried staying awake then yawned loudly again. It had been a good while since I went a sleepless night. I closed my eyes and only began to dream when I heard someone slowly stepping in front of me and realized that I fell asleep. I looked at the figure that froze in front of me. It was female, no older than 17. She was slender and had long blond hair with pink ends.

I growled loudly then hissed as the girl tried to stand still when she realized that I was awake. I stood on all fours and growled loudly. She yelled and ran back a few steps then turned around to look at me and stopped when she noticed that I didn't follow her.

"Good, kitty." She said as she slowly walked back and reached to pet me.

I snapped and purposely missed her hand as she pulled it back with a slight yell. She began running and I roared then chased after her. I didn't run at full speed as I ran on all fours and I wasn't used to it anymore, ironic if you think about it... She ran as fast as she could and signaled for whoever else was with her to run. I heard several hurried footsteps as they ran back through the slanted hallway. I turned the corner and purposely hit the wall. I saw four boys and the girl as they ran. I ran behind them and jumped on the girl's back, knocking her down.

She rolled over and stared into my light blue tiger eyes as I snarled at her.

"No, please... I'm sorry." She said.

I snapped forward and snarled loudly into her face.

"She shook wildly with fright and stared back with horror in her eyes as I inched my way closer to her face. I had to give her credit as she didn't wet herself. She swallowed loudly as I pressed my muzzled face on hers and pushed her back slightly. I lifted a paw to my side and extended my claws, as if ready to attack her.

She squealed and flinched as I slashed my hand at her but stopped before actually touching her.

"I-I-I-I-." She stammered.

"Boo." I said and playfully extended my clawed hand that had become a fist.

She made a low noise, and removed herself from my softened grip, and took off running. They all stared at me as I sat gingerly on the floor, like a white tiger. I lifted my right paw and licked it as if to show that they didn't worry me, even though they did. Not only because they outnumbered me or because one of the boys was able to move objects with his mind but because I would have to hurt them if they got nearer.

One of the boys started heading back towards me and I stopped licking my hand and stared at him with my wild ears on my perked on my head and my tail waving slowly.

"Terri, let's go." The girl said.

"Hold up..." He said and took a step closer. "I don't think he'll hurt us."

"Why do you say that?" The girl asked.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" The boy said. He reached for my head, when he got close, and I motioned my head to shove his hand away. "Ha, see, he's all bark and no bite."

"Bite?" I asked.

The boy flinched and looked at me. "You can talk?" He asked.

I smiled and bit his hand, not enough to break it but enough to get my message across.

He cried out and tried removing his hand but I held it in my mouth. He yelled as the others were half way to helping him.

"Bad kitty! Imma get you neutered!" He yelled.

I lifted one pawed hand and extended my middle finger towards him. He stared at me in surprise and I opened my mouth slightly so he fell backwards. His friends gathered around him as he examined his bloodied hand. I spat out the blood, which was from his hand, onto the floor and sat back down again.

"Anyone else want to try out his theory?" I asked.

Nobody answered as they all stared at me.

"You have five seconds before I come after all of you... Five..." I started and they all got to their feet. "Four..." They took off running as two of the boys helped the boy with the bitten hand up and half carried him out. "Three!" I yelled as they yelled at each other to run faster. "Two!" They all cried out as they neared the end of the slanted hall. "One!" They all hurried out as they were close to the ending of the hall.

I lifted my head and roared and they all made horrified noises and disappeared through the end of the tunnel. I smiled and walked back next to the elevator with the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. I took some of the soda that Alexandria didn't finish and used it to rinse my mouth.

-0-

A month passed and more people came to live in HI, most of which didn't know us as people. Alexandria and I spent a lot of time pretending to be nothing more than white tigers. For amusement as well as entertainment. People seemed to fear us if they though that they were dealing with white tigers in human bodies. Some of our friends still came over and we talked for hours but it always came down to Alexandria and me.

The kids had made a game involving us. They started clubs and one particular club had a task of getting a picture with us if they wanted to join. They had to get a photo with us.

A girl walked into the hall with a camera in her hands. She waved happily at us. Alexandria and I were lying in the floor, much like a white tiger would, and staring at her.

"Is that her?" Alexandria asked me.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Remember what he asked for. You still have to do your dare by the way."

"I know." I said as the girl walked closer as she hadn't heard what we said.

"Hi, I'm Sandra..." She said nervously. "All I want is a picture, okay. Nothing more, please don't attack me..."

She inched closer then stopped when Alexandria and I stretched in unison, as we had practiced, then sat on all fours and stared at her.

"Okay, Sandy... You can do this..." She whispered to herself but I was able to hear her with my enhanced hearing.

I was a half white tiger. I was also half human. So I get the emotions and instincts that go with both. The white tiger in me is a predator, which meant that there were some rules you had to follow when you are near a predator.

Don't make eye contact as it was a sign of aggression between predators, something that she wouldn't stop doing.

Be confident as predators can smell fear. She inched closer and every muscle in her body was tense.

Don't reach out to a predator. She obviously didn't know any of that as she did all three of those and I had to fight my white tiger instincts with everything I had to not lash out at her.

I waited for her to be close then winked at her. She flinched and I took the chance to jump at her and grab her by the waist then flip over so she wouldn't hurt herself on the way down, as she landed on me. I rolled on the ground and stood on top of her. Her camera fell down next to her as I quickly moved my muzzled face next to hers.

"Oh, God, please don't... This was a bad idea... Please don't eat me; I'll give you indigestion or something. I can bring you some yummy food if you-" She stuttered then stopped when I kissed her with my muzzle.

She flinched then stared in shock as she just lay there, too afraid to do anything about it. I moved my hand and slid it under her shirt slowly. She gasped but did nothing still as she was too shocked to move. I reached for her bust and pulled on her bra tightly and it came off with a snap of Velcro.

"Ha!" I laughed out as I let her go.

The girl named Sandra gasped as I took the bra and placed a strap to my mouth as Alexandria took the picture. A Polaroid picture came out and slowly developed and showed me on top of Sandra with her bra on my mouth as she moved her free hand to pull down her shirt in surprise.

I smiled and dropped the bra back on top of Sandra and got off as she scrambled onto her feet. She adjusted her shirt and looked at the photograph that my sister held underneath her pawed hand. She flinched and reached for it as Alexandria slowly dragged it back. Sandra cringed as I moved behind her. She stood still as I smelled her. It was a useless gesture but I promised Phil that we would make it hard for certain people to join his club, and half of me disliked her.

Phil had come down and told me, a few hours ago, that he would be sending Sandra down here for a picture. She was his ex, so he wanted me to humiliate her as she had left him for his best friend and never gave him a reason.

So ten minutes later, I had her stripped down to her underwear and walking on all fours as I walked in front of her, also on all fours, as I pulled her on a leash back towards Phil and his group in the second floor of HI. People laughed at her as she walked behind me. I presented her in front of Phil and she crawled forward and handed him the picture that she carried on her mouth.

"I said that you had to get both of them with you." Phil said.

Sandra stared opened mouthed at me. I stood up on two legs and shrugged then butted Phil's fist.

"Sorry, Sandra, you failed." Phil said and handed the photograph to a girl who pinned it to the wall of others who didn't take an adequate enough picture.

Sandra stood up and moved her wildly as she spoke to Phil.

"You didn't say that they both had to be in the picture." She cried out.

"Yeah I did, that's the same rule I tell everyone, no exceptions. You could try again in a month." Phil said carelessly.

"What? How do you expect me to take a picture with...with...with those two dangerous lunatics?" She asked.

"Richard and Alexandria?" Shana, Alexandria's friend, said. "These two are nothing but cuddly little kitties." She hugged me and I simply let her do it.

"Will you let me take a picture with you two? Please?" She asked and gave me her brightest smile.

I scratched my head and smiled at her. "Come back after the month's passed, I'm sure I'll think of something more humiliating for you to do. By the way, I'm only a cuddly little kitty to those who I like. To anyone else..." I said as I extended one claw at Sandra who flinched. I used my sharp claw to cut the bridge in the bra between her breasts. "... To anyone else, I'm an asshole." She moved to cover herself as the males in Phil's large group hooted and hollered.

I nodded to Phil then turned to Shana. "Alie wants you to talk to her before you move out." I said and jumped on all fours then ran out of the group hall and back into the elevator and down the hall and back to Alexandria who laughed when she saw me.

"I didn't think you'd do it!" She said.

"Well it was a dare and a promise to Phil. Plus she seemed snotty." I replied.

"Did Phil reject the picture?"

"Yeah. He told her to try again in a month. We'll have to find another way to humiliate her."

She laughed. "Maybe she'll want to play horsy or something. Ooh, maybe we could have her eat those chili peppers that nobody could eat without running around like a lunatic."

"We could tie her to the chair and feed them to her, yeah, that's a good idea." I said and high five'd my sister.

A month and a half later, Sandra had left HI because several pictures and videos circulated, amongst small groups, of her walking on all fours in skin tight clothing with a bit in her mouth and reigns as she pulled a red wagon with my sister who sat on top of it. We couldn't get a hold of any chili peppers so we just decided to do this instead. We did give her the picture she wanted and she was admitted into Phil's club but she was so embarrassed about the pictures and 25 minute video that she just left.

-0-

A year passed and Alexandria and I became the full time guards now. It gave us something to do as we couldn't move out yet. Plus messing with the people that Phil sends our way is entertaining enough.

The elevator moved as it stopped on the top floor. Alexandria and I stared up towards it.

"He's coming down..." I said.

"Yeah..." Alexandria replied.

The elevator opened moments later and Grayson walked out then looked at both of us in turn.

"Hey... You two..." He mumbled.

We both shrank away from him as he looked to notice Rewall walking closer as he lead a girl, no older than 15, towards the elevator. Alexandria and I suspected that Rewall was brainwashing the younger members of HI so they would "willingly" become test subject for the different drugs that were being created on that floor.

"Rewall and the girl didn't notice us as they walked passed us and into the elevator. Grayson greeted the girl by name, something he hadn't done for us since he came back from that meeting he had a year ago. He had met up with Rewall there and slowly shrank back into what he became when Rewall brainwashed him.

Grayson looked at me then at Alexandria. He then turned and walked into the elevator as the doors closed.

We both sighed and lay down as the elevator headed back up. We both promised ourselves that we wouldn't let his behavior bring us down but that was easier said than done.

-0-

I turned 19 last month and we just waited for Alexandria to turn 18 on the 18th of February, it was now the 4th. I wanted to leave HI now but I couldn't leave Alexandria behind. I stroked her hair as she slept in my arms that night. She pulled on my arm slightly as she dreamt. I would wait the few weeks until she turned 18 before I suggested us leaving, leaving and not telling anyone. Things didn't improve. Everyone our age had either left or been used as a test subject. Rewall tried convincing Alexandria once and I almost ripped his head off.

Technically she was a year and a month younger than me so I would have to be 19 before she would be 18. I didn't mind too much as I was sure that I could protect her from anything. I pushed some black and white hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She moaned and shifted slightly as she held onto me.

It took me a few minutes before I was able to close my eyes and go to sleep.

In my dream I saw my mother and father as they lay in a picnic blanket and ate grapes and sandwiches from a straw basket.

I started calling out but stopped when I didn't recognize my own voice.

My mother turned at me and pulled me closer to her. She smiled and handed me an orange juice box and I took it and stared at my hands. There was no hair or muscle in my weak and slender arms, the kind of hands that belonged to a child. I looked at my feet and saw some Cookie Monster sneakers on feet that were too small to be mine.

I knew I was in a dream but my mother's voice seemed so real.

"You need to do what's best for your sister, Richard." She said.

"She's in danger with those lunatics, Richard." My father continued.

"I know, mom and dad. I know... The first chance I get, I'll run away and take both of us out of there." I said in my small and child voice.

"Please do..." My mother's ghostly voice said. "Eat the sandwich, you haven't been eating correctly."

It was true. I've been giving some of my food to Alexandria so she ate well.

I bit into the sandwich and it yelled.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Richard?" The sandwich asked as it moved both bread slices as if they were lips.

I'm sorry... You sound like a girl, Mr. Sandwich." I said.

"What is wrong with you, Richard?" The sandwich yelled.

"Nothing, I-"I started but woke up and saw me holding my sister's hand inside of my mouth.

"Can I have my hand back now? It's not Mr. Sandwich, you know." She said and pulled her hand back.

"Sorry." I said as my stomach growled.

"You're hungry aren't you?" She asked.

I didn't reply but instead I looked at the 14 year old boy that now stood at the end of the hall.

"Hi..." He said to us.

We stared at him as he walked up carelessly to us. He had a camera in his hand. The newly installed artificial torches turned on as the boy walked closer. He stared at us as he walked up to us.

He looked familiar somehow. His face looked similar to someone else.

"My name is Carl Thompson. I'm just here for a few days as my parents have to go to Kansas for a trip with my brother, Phil. He told me about you guys."

Carl Thomson... Phil Thomson. I made the connection almost immediately.

I began to say something when he interrupted me. "He told me how cool you guys are and stuff. He also told me about Rewall, was it? Yeah..." He started as he pulled out a water bottle and poured the water onto the dog bowls that lay by the pedestals. Alexandria and I used our tongues to drink the water, like white tigers would. We had gotten used to being little more than animals since we began guarding the entrance of the labs. It's easy to do when the new cook brings our food and gives it to us on trays and lays them on the floor. The new people in HI know us as nothing more than the animals we play so they treat us that way. Alexandria and I got used to it a while back. Even Grayson treated us like animals, I didn't know if he would ever be the same man he used to be as Rewall had brainwashed him to the point of no return. He didn't even remember our names anymore. A month ago he thought my name was Mitch and Alexandria was Joyce. It was just simpler to be animals than it was to be human. You didn't have to worry about feelings when you're an animal. You don't have to understand people when you're an animal. You don't have to care whether or not people like you or not when you're an animal.

Alexandria and I let Carl pet us as we finished the water.

"You guys are cool." He said and pulled out a Three Musketeers bar and bit into it. It had been over a year since I saw that candy bar brand and I couldn't help but lick my lips.

Carl snapped the remaining bar into three pieces and put one piece in my mouth and the other in Alexandria's then placed the last in his.

Alexandria moaned passionately as she savored the chocolate.

"You like it don't you, girl?" Carl asked.

Alexandria smiled and stared at me with her plain crystal white eyes. She smiled in a genuine way, a smile that I haven't seen in years. A smile that assured me that everything was going to be okay.

I smiled then lifted my pawed hand to Carl's chest.

He giggled and took my paw with both his hands.

"Will you guys be my friends while I'm here?" He asked. "Everyone else is way older than I am, so there's no one I can relate to. I know you guys probably can't even understand me but I would like to be your friend."

I smiled and licked his hand to clean the chocolate off. Phil probably only told Carl what he wanted to tell him about us. I didn't mind acting like the animal I practically was, and neither did Alexandria by the look of it.

Alexandria licked his cheek and Carl giggled playfully then hugged her.

"We'll be your friends, but you have to get us some more candy bars, okay." I told him as I smiled.

He gasped. "You CAN talk! Some of the older people here were arguing if you two actually could or not, but they weren't sure. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone... Promise!"

"You're a nice kid, Carl." Alexandria said.

He spent the day with us and even brought us our food, later that day. We all ate in our own ways, him with utensils and us from the bowls on the floor.

"So then I jumped off the building and broke my leg, look." He continued then lifted his pant leg and showed a slight scar. "Doctor said that I'll have that for the rest of my life, isn't that cool?"

"Sure, I'm sure it'll help you get some chicks too!" Alexandria said.

I stared at her in surprise. "That's my line." I said.

"So what? Some chicks do like scars; it makes the guy seem dangerous." She replied.

"You think so?" Carl asked. "There is this one girl I've been meaning to talk to in class... Do you think I should show her my scar?"

"Of course!" Alexandria said. "You're a nice guy Carl; there aren't many nice guys anymore."

"Hey! I'm a nice guy." I said.

"Yeah but you're my brother, so that doesn't count." She replied.

"You guys are brother and sister? I thought you guys were married or something." Carl said.

Alexandria, who had been eating her rice, choked loudly. I patted her back and she spat out some rice onto the ground.

"Me marry him? Ew!" She said.

"Come on, Alie, marry me!" I teased her. "I can make you happy." I pulled her close and made kissing noises as she squealed and shoved me away.

"Never, Ew, no! You're my brother, sicko!" She pointed out.

Carl laughed as Alexandria freaked out. "You're funny, kid." I said.

"That's what I hear... Hold on... I'll be right back." He said and walked out of the cavern.

Alexandria and I stared at each other as we waited half an hour for him to come back.

He held a tray in front of him as Alexandria and I stood up on all fours.

"I thought...you guys might want dessert." Carl said and lowered the tray to reveal three bowels with two scoops of cookies and cream ice cream.

Alexandria gasped and took the bowl that Carl handed her. She fumbled the spoon and let it fall onto the ground. She shrugged and put the bowl on the floor then got on all fours and licked it. "Oh my God! This is good!"

I held the bowl to my mouth and licked it and remembered eating this from a cup when I was younger. It didn't take long for me to find out that I had also forgotten how to hold a spoon and gave up and mimicked Alexandria.

"Hmm..." Carl said and put the bowl down on the floor and adjusted his body like ours was and struggled to lick the ice cream as we did. We both chuckled as he groaned while he was on all fours on the floor with his top down and bottom up.

"How do you guys do that? I can't." He said.

"It took years of practice." Alexandria said. "I don't even remember what it's like to sit and eat at a table actually."

"Me neither." I said and ate a cookie piece.

"You're going to spoil them." A voice said from behind us.

We all turned and saw one of Rewall's friends or comrades, or whatever he was, standing on the opened elevator.

"These animals only need to eat what they're given. Offering them scraps spoils them." He said as Alexandria and I finished our ice cream. The man kicked my bowl to the side and stared at me.

I wanted to strike at him but held myself.

"You leave them alone!" Carl yelled and put his bowl to the side.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"Carl Thomson." Carl replied.

"Yeah, you look like your brother." The man said. "You probably are as stupid as he was."

"Don't talk about my brother like that!" Carl snapped.

"Well at least you have more courage, boy." The man said and stepped passed me and pulled Carl into the air by his shirt collar.

I moved forward but the man threw a hand back to stop me and I complied. Being an animal for as long as I have leaves you compliant in some aspects.

"You only speak when spoken to, boy." The man said and lifted his hand to slap Carl. He swung but jerked his hand back and shifted painfully.

He yelled and looked down at Alexandria who bit his leg. He struck my sister on her back hard enough to make her stop.

"You just hit a girl!" Carl choked out.

"What girl?" The man said. "This is nothing more than an animal. A stupid and brainless, compliant, animal."

He moved back to kick my sister but I tackled him as hard as I could. He dropped Carl and hit the floor, chest first as I lay on his back.

"You dare hurt my sister?" I yelled then stood up quickly and picked him up by his shirt and pants and slammed him on the floor as hard as I could.

He choked out as I let him drop and punched him as hard as I could in the back. He cried out then rolled over and tried kicking me but missed. He stood up and I tackled him to the wall and let him fall into a sitting position. I moved in front of him and head butted both our heads together. His head jerked back and hit the stone wall hard enough to make him dizzy.

I snarled right in front of his face. "If you EVER touch her again, I'll kill you. Do you understand, boy?" I asked.

He groaned and tried standing up as he pushed my head away with his hand.

I growled and bit his hand as hard as I could. The man yelled and I let go.

"Do you understand?" I repeated.

"Yes, yes." He said and stood up and limped towards the elevator but stopped to stare at my sister who stood on two legs and had her arms around Carl.

He began to say something and my sister growled at him. He turned to look at me approaching on all fours and limped into the elevator and back up.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked and examined Carl's reddened neck.

"Yeah, we're okay." Alexandria said and sat down.

"Are you hurt?" I asked her.

"No, I'm okay, are you?" She asked.

"I'm good. That's not going to leave a scar, buddy, sorry." I said as I finished examining Carl's neck.

"Dang, I was hoping for another chick magnet." Carl laughed out.

Alexandria and I laughed as she arched her back. I moved behind her and grabbed her arms and put my knee to her back and pulled back making her spine crack loudly. She cried out then sighed when I let her go.

"That feels better." She said and arched backwards.

"Well I didn't break it, but I guess this'll do for now." I said and she shoved me slightly.

We talked for a few more hours as we lay on the floor and tried going to sleep. A few more people went up the elevator but we didn't stop any of them as they knew the password.

"So are you guys happy being dark ones?" My brother said you guys call them that.

"Yeah... In a way..." Alexandria yawned.

"You don't have any powers?" I asked.

"No... Phil got the powers. I'm just here..." Carl said.

"That sucks, well you don't need them. We do, however, need some sleep." I said and lay on my back.

My sister scooted closer and put her head on my stomach and sighed a moan.

"Good night, guys." She said and shifted slightly.

"Goodnight." I said and closed my eyes after seeing Carl brush up against my sister for warmth. She put her hand around him and fell asleep.

-0-

Carl left us a week and a half later, as he was forced to go back home. We kept two pictures of him that we hung on the side of the wall. One was of him smiling and the other was of the three of us. It was a little something to remember him by. They hung right underneath the picture we kept that had Grayson, the old Grayson, in his military suit, Fiona in her elegant dress, Alexandria in her pink dress, me in a dress shirt and dress pants, and Veronica in her formal pants and blouse.

We both stared at the pictures as I thought about how we got attached the little guy but we both knew he would leave as soon as he came.

"I want to have kids soon, Richard." Alexandria said.

"Well don't look at me." I replied as we both lay in the darkness of the cavern. "I was only joking around about that marriage stuff, you know. Plus I think there's a law or something about brothers and sisters getting married."

"Pervert! I was talking about in life. When I turn 18, I want us to leave. Go somewhere... Anywhere... Back to Texas, if we can."

"I was thinking about that too."

I was going to continue but stopped as Rewall and a gorilla man walked into the hall with two struggling girls in their arms. One had large bird wings on her back; the things were gray and sad. The other was just a girl, I didn't see any animal parts on her or any noticeable powers but she had to be a dark one. Or else why would Rewall bring her here.

I stared at the scrawny girl as Rewall man-handled her into the elevator. The scrawny girl bit into Rewall's arm and stomped on his foot.

Rewall yelled in pain as the girl broke free and ran out of the elevator and past us.

"Run, Christine! RUN!" The girl with wings yelled.

I took off running and tackled the girl to the ground. She bumped her head on the ground as she fell and was knocked unconscious. I picked her up and handed her to Rewall who didn't even thank me.

"Ms. Archer, where did you think you were going? Nobody comes up, tigers." Rewall said as the doors closed.

"Archer... Where have I heard that name before?" I asked, ignoring Rewall's last comment.

"It sounds familiar." Alexandria said as she yawned and lay back down on the floor.

I shrugged and did as she did. I lay back down and tried to sleep as I pawed at the pedestal that was in front of me. I slowly carved the initials R O on it with my claw. Underneath that I carved A O. I stared at the letters that represented Alexandria and my name for a minute or two before I carved a third set of initials: V W, for Veronica Walker. I went back to napping but quickly woke up as several people tried getting in the elevator. Alexandria and I had to fend them off as none had permission.

"Can't you see that they're taking people off the streets now?" A man had asked me.

I scared him off because I had made a promise to guard the elevator, to Grayson. The old Grayson and not this hypocritical oaf of a man.

"Do you think that they're pulling people off the streets now?" Alexandria asked me as we jumped back to sit on top of our pedestals.

"I don't know..." I said as the torches went out.

-00-

"They were, of course." I said to the group as we all sat down in an all you can eat buffet. "Homeless, runaways, ladies of the night."

"Refill?" The waitress asked me.

"No thank you." I said and she smiled and walked away.

"But Christine was the first that he took to lure someone." I replied.

"Who, dad?" What happened next?" Poe asked me, with excitement in his face.

I smiled and stared at Jonathan then at Lilian. "He was trying to lure a certain werewolf and a cat.

"Who?" He asked.

"Wait, do you mean Aunt Lilian and Uncle Jonathan?" Desireé asked as she pointed at them.

"Yeah. We fell for that one." Jonathan said. "We didn't plan anything out, I just had to go and save your aunt."

"Awe!" Christine said and kissed Jonathan in the mouth.

"You're not going to stop here, are you?" Jimmy asked. "I want to hear what happens next."

"Fine." I said and bit into my medium stake that I asked to be well done. "Your aunt and uncle came down the slanted hall way sometime around 2. Christine and Samantha, the girl with wings, had been kidnapped by 10 so they had some time to run a small experiment on Samantha, but nothing major."

-00-

I shifted quickly as some torches turned on when they sensed movement. I waited for them to turn off then shifted quickly so they would turn on again. 'I'm bored…' I thought.

"Stop that!" Alexandria said. "I'm trying to take a nap."

"I'm bored..." I replied.

"Hi Bored, can I call you so?" Fiona yawned.

"Fine." I said and lay down on the pedestal as the torches went off.

I was just dozing off when Alexandria spoke.

"Are you asleep?" She asked me.

"No..." I replied.

"Want to play truth or dare again?"

I sighed then agreed. "Sure."

"You go first."

"Truth." I said.

She squeaked in happiness, normally dare meant that we had to do something to the next person who tried getting into the elevator and would have to postpone the game until the dare was complete, so we normally chose truth.

"Would you have married Veronica? If she didn't disappear like she did." She asked me.

"Don't know, I guess I would have tried at least."

"I think you would have, okay my turn. Truth."

"Did you ever sneak off to be with a boy?" I asked her. I saw her eyes open widely as her white eyes stared at me.

"Once, it was Deon. Before he died." She said.

"Deon? Wow, why Deon? Did you like him?" I asked as I couldn't contain my curiosity. "I mean; there's nothing wrong with him but I'm just curious."

"He was always nice to me. He always said hi to me and talked to me. He was the nicest person I knew here. Anyway it's your turn."

"Truth."

"What would you be doing if mom and dad were never murdered?"

"I don't know." I said. "Going to work or something, college maybe. Your turn."

"Truth."

"Do you miss mom and dad?"

"Of course I do! I miss them a whole lot, I wonder how our lives would be if they never died. Your turn."

"Dare."

She smacked her lips, which always sounded weird coming from her small white tiger lips. "Fine... You have to...make the next girl that tries to get in here to slap you. Do whatever you need to do but you have to get her to slap you. Hard too."

"Fine..."

We lay silently as I started to go to sleep but opened my eyes when I heard footsteps coming down then slanted hallway.

"Speak of the devil." I said.

"Remember your dare." Alexandria said.

I focused my vision on the opening and tried not to blink but gave up on that right as two figures stepped into the mouth of the cavern. Torches turned on as they slowly walked closer.

The first figure was a female: she had long green hair that reached down onto her knees. She had some tight pants and a blouse that was opened at the bust. She also had white cat ears with black tips. Her hands were paws that started at her arm and extended to cover her entire hand. Her middle and index fingers also had a patch of blackened fur. She stood on her tip toes as her feet were also cat paws. The left paw had one black spot on the right side of the paw while the other foot was plain white.

The male was a blue and white and black werewolf that wore some cargo shirts and a long muscle shirt.

I secretly thought about taking his shirt right before I scared them off.

They shifted apart slightly and I saw a third figure. The boy didn't have any animal parts so I assumed that he must have had some other powers. His long curly hair and dark skinned made me stare at him. I didn't know why. He seemed different somehow.

The three walked cautiously forward then stopped when they stepped on the secret switch that turned all lights on. The werewolf looked up and all around as the female stared at us wide eyed. She tapped the werewolf on the shoulder then pointed at the space between Alexandria and me.

All three of them stood as still as they could as they stared at us. I pretended to not care about them or even move. I stared at them, her in particular, until my sister started to stretch, so I followed as I missed the synchronized stretch that we both had worked on.

We both jumped off our pedestals and walked closer to them on all fours as the girl and curly haired boy moved to stand in a triangle formation.

'These guys have practiced this before' I thought.

We began to walk around the trio in a clockwise circle as the girl and curly haired boy stared at both of us in turn. All the meanwhile, I kept wondering how I was going to get her to slap me.

"What now, Dog?" The curly haired boy asked the werewolf.

"Thinking..." The werewolf replied.

"Hey...girl...you have very pretty white eyes." The girl with the cat parts said and slowly reached out to Alexandria when she circled around. Alexandria did a half purring half growling noise before she tried clawing the girl's pawed hand. The cat girl pulled her hand back and stared at my sister.

"Good kitty..." The boy with the curly hair said and I growled loudly him. I made sure to show him my teeth, which made him whimper.

'He's just human' I thought.

We circled one more time and I stared at the girl and smiled. She flinched and moved slightly so I jumped on her, as fast as I could. I tackled her to the ground and held her there.

"Cat!" I heard the werewolf say in his dark voice. I saw him turn and head towards us, through the corner of my eye. Alexandria jumped on him and knocked him down. The boy tried getting up but my sister opened her mouth as wide as she could and put it around the boy's werewolf neck. The werewolf froze and became compliant.

The boy with the curly hair moved closer and both Alexandria and I growled loudly and stared at him.

"Stay there, Jeff." The werewolf boy said and signaled towards the boy with the curly hair.

I examined the girl's features as she was busy looking at the werewolf. She turned and looked at me then flinched when she saw that I was about four inches from her.

'How can I get her to slap me?' I thought and smelled something, something sweet. I smelled her and was immediately lured to her lips as they smelled like cherries, not the real thing of course but it was a change as I haven't smelled scented lip gloss in years. I fought some other scents too. Perfume and the slight smell of vanilla.

I loved vanilla so I followed the smell down her face, neck and eventually down to her opened blouse. That's where the vanilla smell was coming from. She used slightly different perfume or something for her chest area. My animal instincts did what they wanted to do, and that was taste, so I licked her cleavage once. It didn't taste like vanilla... If anything it tasted like sweat.

The girl snarled and jerked her hand free as I had loosened my grip, when I was lost in thought, and jerked sideways when she slapped me as hard as I could.

It hurt, especially since I wasn't expecting it. I turned back and snarled at her. She flinched and the familiar look of horror crossed her eyes slightly.

I moved my muzzled face closer to her then flinched when my sister spoke.

"What are you doin'?" She asked in her exaggerated Texan accent.

I turned to look at her as she had removed her mouth from the werewolf's neck, he still lay there which made me wonder if my sister had but his neck, no I would have heard.

"Just having' some fun." I replied and mimicked her tone.

The cat girl stared at me for a second them used her freed hand to push me off. I fell sideways as she rolled over on all fours and jumped at Alexandria, knocking her off the werewolf.

There was hair pulling and scratching and yelling and someone called the other the b word before the actually hissing and growling started.

I stood up and walked closer as the werewolf who stood up and stared at the two girls fight.

"Talk 'bout a cat fight." I said and placed my hand on the werewolf's shoulder. He flinched slightly, not at my touch but, because the cat girl had gotten behind my sister and used her legs to toss Alie at us.

The thought of catching her crossed my mind for a second then I remembered what my mother had told us when we saw some alley cats fighting.

"Don't get in between two fighting cats; you'll end up getting scratched and bitten."

Both the werewolf and I dove out of the way, him to the left and me to the right, as my sister hit the floor on her back then rolled as the cat girl jumped on her again and began rolling on the floor.

"What are you guys?" The werewolf said as we stood up. He stared at me then at Alexandria and the cat girl as they both screeched.

I stood up and dusted myself off. "Relax," I started. "We just were making sure that you weren't with that oaf of a man, Grayson." I said before I even thought the words as I moved closer to him and stared at the two feline girls who rolled on the floor.

"We should do something." He said as Alexandria shoved the cat girl back slightly and slashed at her midsection and ripped some of her blouse.

The cat girl jerked sideways and got behind Alexandria and wrapped her own green hair around Alexandria's neck and pulled so the green hair strangled my sister. Alexandria gasped out then jerked her head back and hit the cat girl's face which made her let go.

"We should." I replied as my sister pulled the cat girl's ear.

"We could take bets." Said Jeff, the boy with the curly hair, as he cautiously moved closer.

We both turned to look at him.

"That's my sister, you're talking about." The werewolf and I said in unison then looked at each other.

We both moved closer and stood on top of the girls as they yelled and pulled on things. I looked at the werewolf and he shrugged at me. We both grabbed our relatives and I let go of Alexandria when one of the girls clawed at my arm. She jumped at the cat girl and knocked her and the werewolf down. I ran forward and pulled Alexandria away again but she held onto the girl's green hair. The cat girl cried out and I had to pull on my sister's hair before she let go.

"Stop it, Alie!" I hissed.

"She...started it." Alexandria panted as I held onto her.

The cat girl swung and kicked as she tried getting out of her brother's hold.

"Let me go!" She yelled.

"No, stop it, Cat!" The werewolf said.

It took about ten minutes before both girls tired themselves out and we were able to let them to without them wanting to claw each other's eyes out.

"My name is Richard, Richard Oblivion." I said and extended his paw to the werewolf, who shook it.

We now stood by the right side of the stone cavern as we talked. It felt weird to talk to someone my age as I had only really had contact with younger people recently so it was a nice change.

"I'm Jonathan Talbain." He replied and signaled at the red faced cat girl by my side "This is my sister, Lilian."

"Nice to meet you." I said and nodded respectfully at Lily, who simply looked back at me. I nodded sideways towards Alie who was next to me. "This is my sister, Alexandria." She reached and shook Jonathan's hand politely and then extended her hand towards Lily, the cat girl, who stared back for a second then shook it after her brother shoved her with his elbow. I almost expected for both girls to start hissing at each other again.

I smiled and turned to Jeff.

He flinched and moved closer to introduce himself, "I'm Jeffery Gonzales." He extended his hand and Alexandria and I shook it.

"Sorry about earlier..." started Alexandria "We didn't recognize you and thought that-" she began to cough loudly and violently as I stood up and patted her back as she began to turn red. She finally coughed up something that looked like fur. The same fur that belonged to Jonathan. She probably swallowed some when she had her mouth around his neck.

I smiled and Alexandria stared at me sideways and gave me her "don't you dare say anything" look.

"Well that's one way to get inside her." I said as Alexandria slapped me slightly in the chest. I laughed and dodged her second attack.

Alexandria heaved once then coughed before she turned back around to look at Jonathan who stared back at her.

"Good lord, sorry 'bout that..." Alexandria said coughing one more time as she fanned herself with her left paw, "Like I was saying, we were hoping that you weren't with Grayson..." She sat down cross legged on the floor.

"But... Aren't you working with Grayson?" Lilian asked.

"Well...yeah... But he doesn't care for us anymore..." Alexandria adjusted her top as one of the straps came loose.

I moved behind Alexandria and tightened her strap to where, I thought, it should be. "We were hired to protect the entrance to their experiment room." I said and sat back down. "He took us in when I was only 12, Alie was 10...Nobody else would take the two of us in...Whatever we are."

It didn't hit me until I said it. I had never known what we were called. We always called ourselves "Dark Ones" but that was just a name I heard somewhere.

"We're called Darkstalkers." Jonathan said.

I remembered hearing that word in Erorala. Alexandria and I mouthed the word slowly as we got used to it. "Darkstalkers" I muttered.

"Nobody even bothered to tell us, even that." Alexandria said sadly.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked curiously. It was clear that they weren't just curious about what was going on. Maybe they were here for the two girls that Rewall and that other guy brought in earlier.

"His girlfriend was kidnapped-" Lilian started.

"What girlfriend? She's our neighbor as well as friend." Jonathan replied in an annoyed tone.

"You wouldn't think that if you heard how she talks about you." Lilian replied in a song like tone.

"Anyway..." Jonathan said. "They were kidnapped from the school we go to a few hours ago and we're here to rescue them. I heard that this guy named Grayson was behind it. I take it you know him."

"Yeah... We know him." I replied with some anger in my voice. Alexandria stared at me.

"He's supposed to be doing some research on Darkstalkers. Christine is a human so she should be safe but there was another girl that was also kidnapped. She is a Darkstalker so I imagine that they would try something on her."

"A girl with large dark feathery wings?" Alexandria asked.

"Yeah, did you see them?" Lilian asked.

"They passed by here a few hours ago." I said but intentionally let out the part where I tackled the scrawny girl to the floor.

"Was there a smaller girl with her? About 5'4", scrawny, probably was dragged kicking and screaming?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, she stepped on her captor's foot and ran tried running but...someone stopped her and her captor was able to take her back into the elevator." I said. 

Jonathan smiled slightly as if it was expecting her to do something of the sort. "Elevator?" He asked.

I pointed at the large double doors that were the elevator's opening.

"Designed to keep people out."

"Can you open it?"

"Yup."

"Alright. Any problem with opening it for us so we could get the girls back and return to our normal lives?" Jonathan asked.

"Sure..." Is it just the three of you?" I said.

"No, my parents are out there somewhere." Jonathan replied.

"Can... Can we join you?" I asked in the most casual way I could, but doubt that it came out that way. "We haven't left this place since we started seven years ago. We are known as nothing more than guards... They quickly forgot our names... Simply referred to us as 'hey you' and sometimes not even that." This wasn't exactly true but I hoped that this was a way for Alexandria and I to leave this place and not have to live in the streets.

Jonathan stared at me as if he was honestly considering what I had just said.

"We are the only ones that could open the doors." I added. That also wasn't exactly true as some of the people who were working under Rewall also knew the secret buttons.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow then nodded. "Alright you're in..."

"Yeah!" Said Alexandria jumping towards Jonathan and threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheeked twice.

"We won't slow you down, leader." I said and shook his hand again.

"Leader..." He muttered. "Yeah I guess I would be considered the leader..."

"Come on, Alie." I said and stood up then pulled Alexandria from Jonathan and tucked her under an arm and carried away. She didn't protest or squirm. Instead she lay there limply and waited for me to let her go. We jumped on the pedestals and sat on all fours again then lifted our pawed hands in unison and dragged out them on each side of the door. The elevator came down and opened after a few seconds so we both jumped off and walked into the elevator on all fours. I saw Jonathan and Lilian stand on two legs and walk over so I stood up slowly and Alexandria followed. We were both so used to being on all fours that it now came naturally to us.

Jonathan and Lilian stared at all the buttons on both sides of the door. There were 23 in total. Out of the 23 only five actually worked. One went up, one went down, one opened the door, one closed the doors and one reset the elevator's control in case of it getting stuck.

"Most of them will jam the Elevator on purpose... Only Grayson and we know the correct ones" I informed them and pushed the third button from the right on the second row on the left panel. The elevator's doors closed and we slowly headed up for about a minute and a half.

I stared at Jonathan, our new leader, as he was eager for the doors to open but I knew that we were in for somewhat of a ride. It wasn't that far away. But the elevator was meant for a max of four people so it was slow as it climbed the 780 feet onto the entrance of the labs. I hoped that Grayson wouldn't be there so we could just get Jonathan's friends and leave before anyone notices.


	9. Chapter IX: An Oblivion Tail

_Chapter IX_: **An Oblivion Tail**

"By the way..." Jonathan started as the elevator headed up. "What do you call yourselves when you're in these forms?"

I stared at him then at Alexandria who stared back at me in confusion.

"I thought so... I'm Dog, she's Cat." He continued.

"Um..." I said and didn't really know what to say as we never really thought of any code name for each other.

"Alexandria, you're Alie." Jonathan said as he got that name from when I called her that earlier. He stared at me and at my right white tiger ear that had a single spot on the back. "You're Spot, at least until I can think of something else."

I made a face, involuntarily. I didn't really like the name as it reminded me of a Dalmatian or something.

"Can I be Tye?" I asked. "Like short for Tiger."

"Sure...Tye." Jonathan replied.

I looked at Alexandria who was busy staring at Jeff.

"What's he called?" She asked and pointed towards the curly haired boy.

"Mexican." Jonathan said as his voice sounded like he was holding back a laugh.

"Hi, Mexican." Alie said and waved as Jonathan broke into laughter. Alexandria pulled her waving hand back and looked at Jonathan then at me in confusion.

Jeff punched Jonathan in the arm as the door behind us opened.

We turned around and walked out. I stared at Lilian's green hair as it bounced on her back. It wasn't naturally green; my sister had showed me how to tell. Some silver, not gray, roots were barely visible from the top of her head. I was broken from my fixation on her hair by my sister who pulled on my tail. I turned to look at her then noticed that she was staring in front of her. I turned and saw everyone staring at something in front of us. I looked forward and my heart sank as I saw Grayson sitting in the middle of the room as he stared at us. He had probably seen us as we talked to Jonathan and Lilian and decided to wait for us.

Grayson smiled and stood up and I had a nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me that I should be standing on all fours and guarding the entrance and not here. The voice in my head wasn't mine; it was familiar...male...but not mine.

"I wondered how long would I have to wait till you came crawling back, Talbain." He said.

I saw Jonathan jerk right suddenly as he had heard something that I was too distracted to have paid attention to.

"Who's that?" Jonathan asked and stared back at Grayson.

Grayson turned to look at us indifferently. "You two may leave now." He said and turned to sit back on his seat. He raised an eye brow when we flinched but didn't move. "Leave!" He practically yelled and I flinched again but stood my ground. Alexandria took my hand in hers.

"I'll follow you if you want to go back, but I really do want to leave." She whispered in my ear.

Grayson stared at us as we refused to go back down the elevator. He began to say something then stopped when Jonathan took a few steps closer.

"Where are Christine and Samantha?" Jonathan asked.

Grayson frowned, in an irritated kind of way, and spoke out something that I wasn't able to make out.

I felt something rush passed me and slam Jonathan, our leader, onto the wall. I turned quickly and saw Rewall hovering in midair. He hung there for a while and I ran towards Jonathan to help and hoped that Grayson didn't call out to me as I would hesitate if he did.

I reached Rewall just as blades extended from his fingers and moved to stab Jonathan in the midsection. I grabbed Rewall by his torn leathers and threw him back as hard as I could.

Rewall flipped in midair and extended his long leathery wings and began to gain momentum as he headed back towards us.

I turned to see Lilian as she saw what was happening and turned then fell backwards on all fours. She kicked her lower half up, just as Rewall passed by, and kicked him as hard as she could. Rewall was knocked out of midair and hit the other doors in the elevator. Alexandria quickly ran into the elevator and ran out a second later as the doors closed and headed back down as Rewall banged at the door loudly.

"Where are Christine and Samantha?" Jonathan asked again as he made his way towards Grayson.

Somebody knocked loudly on the reinforced glass that viewed into the labs. It was Samantha, the girl with the gray feathery wings, except that her wings were missing at the moment. She was naked as she banged the door with both hands in desperation. I thought about how Phil, Deon, Alexandria and I broke the safety glass with some effort and decided against mentioning it to anyone.

Jonathan ran forward and threw himself at the glass but simply bounced off it. I saw the two doctors in lab coats and a biohazard mask appeared and pulled the girl away.

"We are here to prevent the Darkstalker race from growing." Grayson said with a tired expression. "Darkstalkers are a plague on this earth."

I stared at Grayson who stared at Jonathan who was currently ignoring him and rammed repeatedly into the glass in hopes of breaking it.

"Jonathan, there is still time for you to join us. You could help us make this dream come true." Grayson continued.

Jonathan stopped ramming into the wall and turned slightly to see Grayson through the corner of his eyes.

"Go fuck yourself, Grayson. Open this door." He said.

Grayson mumbled something then yelled "Get him!"

A wall in the back opened and the man, who came down and attacked us while Carl was living here, popped out and ran towards Jonathan who jumped to the side. The man had large bull horns protruding from his head which made him a bull Darkstalker.

The man turned and headed towards us as he gained speed. Alexandria simply moved out of the way as Lilian jumped to the side. Jeff fell to the floor and rolled out of the way at the last second then looked at me. I flipped and pushed myself off the wall and landed behind the man as he ran passed. Jonathan moved and stopped in front of the elevator. The bull man turned and ran back towards Jonathan who didn't move as the elevator, behind him, opened slowly. Rewall stood in the elevator and pulled out a large scythe from his person and swung it at Jonathan who quickly jumped aside. Rewall barely missed Jonathan and frowned in anger then looked shocked when he noticed that he dug the scythe into the bull man who wasn't able to stop in time and ended up spearing Rewall through the midsection with one horn.

The dead bull man fell limply as he pulled Rewall down with him. Rewall groaned and reached for help as my sister pushed the button and sent them back down.

Grayson had an enraged look in his face as we turned to look at him.

"We just want to save our friends. Open the door..." Jonathan said softly.

"LIES! You want to stop me from changing the world.

Grayson said and put his hand into the back of his pants and pulled out a hand gun that he pointed at Jonathan for about a second before pulling the trigger twice.

Jonathan jerked back and hit the rear wall. I stared at him wide eyed as he stood on his feet. I stared at the bullet holes inside of his muscle shirt and in his arm. The bullets didn't leave his body as they stopped inside of him.

Jonathan jerked slightly and the bullet in his arm slowly made its way out and eventually dropped to the floor.

Alexandria stared in surprise and then turned to look at me. "Jonathan..." I started. "You're okay."

Jonathan groaned as he stood back up then jerked back three more times as Grayson shot again. I began to call out to him when Lilian got shot once too for moving close to Jonathan.

Lilian yelled and fell on all fours when the bullet penetrated her skin. Grayson grinned as both Jonathan and Lilian were bent down on the floor. I heard a small clank that was followed by another and another. A bullet rolled from under Lilian as the small drip of blood stopped. She stood up and the hole that the bullet had penetrated was closed now with only the blood on her blouse indicating that it was ever there.

Jonathan stood up with one bloody bullet in his hand and flicked it aside then grinned.

Grayson flinched and struggled to reload so I ran forward, on all fours, and punched Grayson when I reached him. I heard Alexandria gasp as Grayson hit the floor. Grayson looked at me and I didn't see anything that might have been his old self, the part that Alexandria and I loved.

Grayson seemed to be this evil thing as he finished reloading his gun and pointed it at me.

It took me a second to realize that I had a gun facing me and was barely able to fall out of the way when Grayson pulled the trigger and sent the bullet passing passed my face.

I fell on all fours and began to run around so Grayson couldn't actually hit me.

"Tye!" Jonathan yelled. "We recover because of the werewolf blood in us, you two would die!"

I had already thought of that. I was just happy that Grayson didn't think of bringing silver bullets along.

"I kinda guessed that, Dog." I replied and slowed my pace when Grayson stopped and turned abruptly then shot Jonathan, who had been moving closer, once again.

Grayson turned his gun and moved it toward Lilian again... 'No, not towards Lilian.' I thought. 'He's aiming it at...'

"Alie!" I choked out as Grayson now pointed the barrel of the gun towards Alexandria. "No!" I yelled when Grayson pulled the trigger then ran forward and tackled him to the ground.

I looked up and saw Alexandria standing wide eyed and towards the wall as Jonathan crouched down on the floor as he held his hand that had blood running from it.

"Tiger, get off me!" Grayson said as he tried shaking me off.

"My name is not Tiger." I said as Alexandria bent down toward Jonathan who held his bleeding hand.

"Get off me." He repeated and I flinched slightly but held onto him.

"Big brother..." I heard Lilian say then jump on all fours and ran towards Grayson and me.

She jumped and extended her foot to kick Grayson in the head when she froze in midair. She looked at Grayson then at me in surprise before she was tossed towards the safety glass of the labs. She didn't hit the floor as she hovered there, upside down.

I felt like something jerked me off Grayson then tossed me towards Jonathan and Alexandria and was pinned on the wall too, but I was upright. Grayson stood up and dust himself as Melissa, a girl that Rewall had convinced Grayson into recruiting, step out of wherever she was hiding and stood by Grayson.

Grayson stood up and picked up his gun and aimed it at me.

I struggled but was unable to move as something pinned me to the wall. Grayson hesitated for about a second before pulling the trigger.

I saw the bullet as time slowed down: inching closer and closer as it cut through the air.

Time froze as I stared at the bullet that was right in front of me. Except that time wasn't frozen, I noticed, as Grayson lowered his gun and Jonathan stopped moving towards me and Lilian struggled in place.

The bullet was frozen in front of me. Melissa must have stopped it for some reason.

"You said that we weren't enemies with Darkstalkers. You said we wouldn't hurt them." Melissa said.

"These are different!" "Replied Grayson." These must die!"

Melissa turned to look at Grayson. "You lied to me." She said as the bullet that had been frozen in front of me fell suddenly. "You said that you only needed Christine and Samantha as hostages... That you wouldn't experiment on them."

"They are bad." Grayson practically yelled as his face reddened. "They need to be stopped." He continued as he finished reloading his gun with his shaking hands.

"No they're not; these are the nicest people I know." Melissa replied and looked at Jonathan with something very much like a smile.

Grayson said something then turned his gun towards Melissa. He pulled the trigger and Melissah's hands moved quickly as they became blurs. She blocked and defected every bullet with great ease.

I remembered seeing the file for Melissa Anderson a while back when Grayson was asleep:

-Anderson, Melissa: female, 18.

5'7". Nationality: American. Species/powers: psychic. Level 10/10.

"She can help us with your goal, Robert." Rewall had said in a conversation that had happened a week before Melissa was recruited. "She can help you with want you want."

"To change the world?" Grayson had asked in a dreamy voice.

"Yes... That is want you want."

"No...It's what _you_ want."

"No, my friend, it is what you want."

Grayson didn't say anything for a few seconds. "How do we get her?"

"She is home schooled by her father who is about to let her join a public school where those werewolves that you want are. We recruit her one day after class."

"Okay..."

The conversation had happened during close doors but I had snuck away from bed and crawled through the vents to hear it.

Melissa deflected all bullets, one of which almost hit Jonathan.

Grayson pulled the trigger for the last time and Melissa flicked her hand and the bullet flew back towards Grayson's head and impacted, making his head jerk as he fell and hit the floor and lay motionless.

I turned to look at Alexandria who held her pawed hands over her muzzled mouth in surprise as her eyes shine with tears. I was released and fell on all fours and saw Lilian flip and land in a similar position then stood up.

I ran towards Alexandria and hugged her close to me.

"Alexandria... Alie, look at me." I said as Alexandria began to cry. "That wasn't Grayson. Our Grayson died a long time ago."

Alexandria nodded quickly as she dried tears on my arm.

"He isn't the same man we once knew, he is someone else, someone who didn't care for us, a stranger." I said as my sister slowly calmed down. I never expected to have her see Grayson be taken down.

I knew that I might have to kill this current Grayson so we could leave but I wasn't going to let Alexandria see.

Jonathan now held a key card in his hand and walked towards the door towards the labs.

He slid the card twice, because he slid it backwards the first time, and the doors opened.

"Come on, they're going into the labs." I told Alexandria who sniffed once and nodded then wiped tears from her eyes.

She was careful to not look at Grayson as we moved closer to Jonathan, Lilian and Jeff, who I had forgotten about until now.

We all turned as the elevator started again.

It took a few seconds before the doors opened. A werewolf with blue and white fur walked out. He had some blood splashed through his fur. A woman walked next to him. She had cat fur, ears, pass and a tail. They both looked at Jonathan and Lilian and smiled as I was able to see a resemblance with Jonathan and Lilian and this older couple.

"Mom, dad. What happened?" Jonathan asked.

"One of those bloody multiplying guys came at us with a knife. I had to rough him up a bit." The werewolf said and tried brushing some of the blood off his fur with his hand.

The woman looked at us for a few seconds then smiled when I waved slightly. The werewolf simply stared at us through the corner of his eyes.

"Where is Christine?" The older werewolf asked.

"Through here." Jonathan said and the older werewolf sprinted forward with the cat woman in his side.

I held Alie's hand as we walked towards the door.

A figure held a scalpel towards Jonathan when we entered the room.

It had to be the scientist who worked with Veronica, I couldn't remember their name.

Alexandria stared at me then at Jonathan who probably could have just slapped the scalpel off the man's hand and tackled him to the floor with ease.

Jonathan held his hands up as he moved closer to the naked girl who was strapped onto a bed.

The two lab doctors moved back until one of them stepped back onto a lab coat hanger and it revealed her biohazard mask.

Alexandria and I looked at everyone who stared at the female lab doctor.

"Archer..." Alexandria whispered in my ear. "The lab doctor's last name is Archer, just like that girl that Rewall brought in."

I stared at the woman as Jonathan lowered his hands and pointed at the man who flinched.

"Take off your mask." He said with authority in his voice.

"No, you need to leave." Mr. Archer, the man behind the mask said.

The older werewolf placed a hand on Jonathan's shoulder and said something before his werewolf fur began to shrink into his body. He lost a few inches in height as his fur and muzzle sank back into his skin.

Jonathan, Lilian and the cat woman did the same. It took a few seconds before there weren't any more animals in the labs. Only people…and us.

Mr. Archer dropped his scalpel and took his mask off.

He looked older than the last time we visited him, tired even.

"I...but Grayson said that all Darkstalkers were bad. But you guys..." He said in amazement.

"No, we're not all bad." The older werewolf said as he walked over and put his hands on Mr. Archer's shoulders. He then turned and smiled at Mrs. Archer.

Jonathan took the time to release Samantha, the naked girl who covered herself. Jonathan took off his muscle shirt and gave it to Samantha.

"Are you okay?" Jonathan asked her.

"I'm fine." She replied.

Jonathan turned around as the girl jumped up and kissed him on the mouth.

"Must be his girlfriend." Alexandria whispered in my ear. But I couldn't help but hear a slight tone of disappointment.

"Thank you." The girl continued. "Thank you for helping me, again."

"I'm always here to help a friend." Jonathan replied.

"Maybe not." I whispered to Alexandria.

"I helped too!" Jeff said.

Alexandria and I stared at him then towards Jonathan before helping Jeff out of the room.

"Awe, come on guys!" Jeff said to us.

"You need to stay out here, Mexican." Alexandria said.

"Awe, but there are naked chicks in there." He replied.

My sister didn't slap him because she didn't know him well enough or else she'd let him have it.

Melissa was sitting on the floor as she hugged her knees to her chest as a man crouched next to her right and spoke in a soothing voice.

I walked away from Alexandria and Jeff, who talked about naked chicks and perverts, and walked closer. The man flinched and stood up when he saw me.

I held my hands up, as Jonathan had, to show that I was harmless.

The man sighed then looked at his daughter again.

"Let's go home, honey." He said.

Melissa simply sat there with her knees up to her chest and stared at a pencil span on its tip in front of her. The pencil balanced itself on its lead tip as it span and let small writing on the floor.

The words "WHAT AM I?" we're written on the floor in ragged and redrawn lines.

"You saved us, Melissa, thank you." I said.

The pencil stopped spinning and fell sideways as Melissa stopped concentrating on it and stared at me.

"You're not mad?" She asked me. "I just killed your dad."

"He wasn't our father." I said.

"But he said he was." Melissa said.

Those words hurt me more than I thought they would. Had he really introduced himself as our father to her? And if so then how many people knew us as his children?

"For a while he was our father figure... But that person died when Rewall met him." I said, trying to sound cold and distant.

"I'm sorry, Richard..." She said and stared at her pencil that bolted upright again.

"It's okay; he would have killed us if you didn't come along. Thank you." I said.

"See honey, you helped out..." The man said. "I'm her father, Drew Anderson." He shook my hand then scooped his daughter into his arms, she didn't protest or move. Instead she simply wrapped her arms around her father's neck and closed her eyes. "Can you thank Jonathan for me?" He said and walked into the rear exit.

I smiled then stared at Grayson's dead body. A note hung out of his right side pocket so I walked over and pulled it out of his pocket and opened it.

"Dear Dick and Alie." The note began. "I have not been myself lately, and I apologize. I fear that something or someone is messing with my head. I have no proof of this though. I just want to say that I love both of you as if you were my own. I love both of you as if you were my real children and hope, in a different life, that if I had children then they would turn out like you two did. I feel as I had been away for a long time and have returned for a little bit. I don't know how long I'll be able to think correctly so I just want to tell you guys to not trust Rewall. There's something wrong with him. Fiona, even though her memory still isn't fully intact, has flinched when I mentioned him to her. I feel the lingering darkness serving over me again so I am ending this. Please know that whatever is to happen, that I will always love you two.

-Robert W. Grayson."

I sniffed loudly then folded the note and placed it into my shorts. I headed back towards Alexandria and Jeff and smiled when I saw Alexandria on top of Jeff as she pinned him into the ground. She held both his hands behind his back with one of hers and had one clawed finger extended as she had lifted his shirt and lightly scratched his back.

"Say 'naked chick' one more time!" She said as she placed one clawed hand on his back.

"Naked chick!" Jeff said.

Alexandria swirled her finger on his back as she scratched him in a zigzagging formation.

Jeff kicked and jerked and even laughed but he wouldn't plea.

"Imma carve my name into your back, Mexican!" Alexandria said and gently scratched the beginnings of the letter A on his back.

"Go ahead, we like it rough, chica." Jeff said.

"Can't you see he's enjoying this?" I said as I saw the people in the labs staring at us. I grabbed my sister by the arm and pulled her off Jeff who quickly stood up and rubbed his arms.

I stared at Jonathan's human form for the first time. He was fair skinned with masculine features, even though he looked more like his mother than his father.

Lilian also looked like her mother but had her father's eyes. She looked slightly different in her human form as all feline features were missing; her hair was still green though.

The cat woman looked like a regular woman would in her late 30's. Her extremely long blue hair had a single strain of white.

The man had long spiky silver hair and his slightly tanned face looked shockingly normal. He smiled and I expected to see fangs but the only thing that was out of the ordinary was that he had a chapped lip.

They walked out and looked at us. All except for Lilian who glared at my sister for having her hand wrapped around Jeff's and giggling as she asked him what Mexican meant.

Jonathan walked over to us as he carried the scrawny girl, Christine, in his arms. "Mr. and Mrs. Archer have agreed to take you guys in, if you'd like."

"Really?" I said. "That would be cool."

"That is so nice of them!" Alexandria said as she let go of Jeff and walked next to me.

Jeff walked over to Lily who crossed her arms, cocked a hip then turned around and walked behind her parents.

"Yeah, we're going home now." Jonathan said. "Where's Melissa?"

"Her father came and took her back. He says 'thank you' by the way." I replied.

Alexandria and I went back down the elevator to get the few things we still possessed: Pictures, clothing, a music box.

One of the other guards, a man with a large scythe, tried blocking our way and I punched him out with a single strike. We left HI for the last time and didn't look back as we tossed our trash bag with stuff into the Archer's SUV and fought with the seat belts for about two minutes before Mrs. Archer helped us.

-00-

We lived with your Aunt Christine's family for a few years until I met your mother while I worked as a cashier with your aunt Lilian.

"You met mom in a grocery story?" Joanna asked.

"Yup." Aye said and took my hand into hers. "I had just painted my hair glow in the dark silver because my parents didn't want me to. I did it only because they told me not to but I hated it. I passed by the store and the manager lady moved me over to your father's line who casually commented on it."

"She thought I was messing with her." I said. "So she walked out and left the hair dye she had paid for..."

"It was Noir. Noir is darker than black." Aye corrected me.

"How can anything be Darker than Black?" I replied. "So she thought I was making fun of her and stormed out."

"I got half way down the parking lot and forgot that I paid for the dye but forgot about it." Aye said.

"I ran out and handed it to her. Then, like a guy, apologized for making her feel bad." I continued.

"I felt like a bitc...jerk and offered to buy him dinner." Aye replied as I kissed her hand.

"Cool! What happened after that?" Desirée asked.

"Well...he got to see my hair glow in the dark a few days later..." Aye continued.

Several of my kids made uncomfortable noises.

I laughed and pulled Aye, my wife, onto my lap and kissed her. "We got married three years later and somehow ended up with you four monsters."

"Dad!" Jimmy and the girls said at the same time.

I ignored them and kissed my wife, as I'm entitled to do once in a while.

-0-

I woke up as a bird hit the window of our minivan.

"It's effing night, why are birds flying at this time?" Aye hissed as she drove our minivan.

We should stop in a motel, Alie is must be falling asleep too. I said and looked through the side mirror to see the SUV behind us swerve slightly before getting back in the road.

"Good idea. We just passed a Best Western back there." Desirée said as she played a game on her cell phone.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Calallen, about 20 minutes away from Corpus." Aye said in a yawn.

"There's a...Laquinta? La Quanita?" I said not able to really pronounce the motels name.

"La Quinta." Desirée said. "It means 'The Fifth' in Spanish."

"How would you know Ms. Spanish speaker." I asked.

"I took a few years, plus you left us with Uncle Jeff a lot when we were younger. We used to make him angry just so he'd yell at us in Spanish... He goes all Ricky Ricardo after about five minutes. That and Raul is Hispanic."

"Who's Raul?" I asked.

"Desirée's boyfriend." Aye said as she signaled that she was about to get off exit 10 on the 37 freeway then took a left then another left to go back the way we came but on the street as the entrance of the motel was on a one way street.

"You have a boyfriend?" I asked her.

"No, he's just a friend." Desirée said almost immediately.

"Oh...and here I thought that I would finally see some grandchildren." I said.

"Dad!" Desirée complained.

"What?" I said. "All I'm saying is that if a child is to pop out of...there, nine months after you and your...quote unquote friend spend a weekend together and preferably if it's a boy that I would get too mad."

"So I'm a breeding machine now?" Desirée said. "Just here to give you grandchildren?"

"No...of course not...you are also here to send us some money once in a while and let us stay in your guest bedroom when we come over." I said smartly.

"Stop it, you're making her angry." Aye said.

"What? Oh great, now you made my white mage die, thanks dad." Desirée complained as she shifted to put her cell phone in her pocket.

"Why a grandson and not a granddaughter by the way?" Aye asked me.

"Because you can't play baseball with a girl." I said.

"Girls play baseball." Desirée said.

"Did you play baseball?" I asked.

"I played softball."

"Point proven." I said.

"Okay, grandpa, we're here." Aye said.

We stepped out of the minivan as my sister jumped the curve with the front right tire as she turned too quickly.

I laughed and pointed at my sister as she parked near us. She pretended to laugh and flipped me off as she parked.

We rented four rooms, because Desirée, Joanna and Senna needed a girl's only room. Jimmy, Poe and Erika (Poe's girlfriend) slept in another room. I wasn't too worried about them because they were 13. Worse thing they could do is watch a TV-M movie behind my back. Aye and I slept in our room (I say sleep because we eventually got around to that). Ray and my sister slept in the other room.

Morning eventually came and Aye and I went round two before getting dressed and walking out then got a dirty look from my sister when we got downstairs and ate from the buffet they offered.

We all talked about whatever came to mind when we finished.

"We should go; the base is about half an hour from here." I said and stuffed two breakfast sausages into my mouth and got up then took a third.

"Alright, on the way back though, we're sleeping on a different floor from you guys, though." Alexandria said.

"I don't think that'll work." I said as Aye beamed red.

-0-

We reached the military base that I spent most of my teenage years in. It was still destroyed but at least someone had removed the broken and loose parts. We walked around as our "young adults" (because they hate being called kids) walked around and paid attention to the tank cannon that was in the ground.

"Where was your bunk?" Ray asked as he stood on top of a 2 by 4.

"I don't remember... Over there I think." I said. "The woman's bunker was in that direction."

"The dining hall was right there." Alexandria said as she pointed towards a destroyed building.

"You people can't be here." A man said as he walked up to us.

He was an older gentleman with the beginnings of white hair. He wore some baggy pants and a striped dressing shirt.

"Sorry, sir." Ray said in his military voice. "My wife and her brother grew up here so we came to visit. We came all the way from New Mexico."

"Really?" The man asked.

"Yeah, I'm Richard Oblivion. That's my sister, Alexandria Ayalando, Oblivion back in those days." I said.

"Dick and Alie!" The man said. "It's me! Herbert Longfist!"

"Longfist?" Alexandria asked as she hugged Longfist. "Holy crap you look different!"

"Lost a lot of weight after the base burnt down, I saw it as a sign." Longfist replied.

"Well you look good!" Alexandria said.

"Thank you, you kids... I mean grown-ups changed. You're no longer the two little white tigers that hung around Robert all the time. How is that old dude, must be pushing 60 now."

"Grayson?" I started. "He's dead. Has been for more than 20 years now."

"Has he?" Longfist started sorrowfully. "That is a shame; he was always the better of us."

We told him about our lives without telling him any of what happened in HI.

"Have you talked to Fiona lately?" Longfist asked.

"No, we actually haven't talked to her since we left Huyton Industries."

"Really? Well she woke up a week after you guys left Huyton. I visited her a lot and she always asked if I had heard anything from you guys. She married my brother... Late brother. They had one child together. She already had one when they got married.

"She had a child?" Alexandria asked.

"That's right, you guys didn't know. I think she should be the one that explain." Longfist said and gave us directions.

The directions lead to a two story house in town. I drove up to the drive way and stepped out.

"Who lives here dad?" Jimmy asked me when we walked out.

"An old friend, wait here guys." I said as Alexandria and I walked up to the door and knocked twice.

"How do I look?" Alexandria asked as she adjusted her hair.

I was spared having to answer by someone opening the door.

A girl in her early 20's now stood in the doorway. She had long black hair with a purple stripe here and there. Her hair covered one of her eyes as she stared at us. She looked slightly disappointed to see us, as if she was expecting someone else.

"Hi, can I help you?" She asked.

"Hi." I started. "Is Fiona around?"

"Sure..." She said and opened the door. "Come in."

Alexandria and I walked in and looked around the wall was covered with paintings and pictures. The name Longfist was written on the refrigerator door with some alphabet magnets.

"Please wait here." The girl said and began to walk off. "Mom, you have company!"

"I guess that's her daughter." Alexandria said.

A woman walked out of the kitchen and stared at us for a few seconds then gasped.

"Richard! Alexandria!" My God, I thought you guys died with Grayson, a long time ago!" She said and ran up to us. She threw her arms around us and hugged us tight.

We all laughed as she held us close.

"What happened to you guys? I haven't heard from you two in years and years! What happened?" She asked.

We took about 40 minutes explain our life story in quick details about Grayson, Rewall and Veronica. She gasped loudly when we told her about Veronica. She only nodded when we told her about Grayson.

"I thought that might happen, when he stopped calling Gina I thought something was wrong. Rewall was very manipulative.

"He was. He used the kids in Huyton as experiments." I said.

"That is probably... Oh my God, are you guys married? Not to each other though, right?" She asked as she examined the rings on each of our fingers.

"What? Ew, no!" Alexandria said and looked at me. "Shut up, Richard, don't say anything."

I laughed and shook my head. "No, Fiona, I'm married to someone and she's married to someone else." I said and texted my daughter.

"Bye mom!" The girl said as she walked up and hugged her mom then waved at us and ran out the door.

"That's my daughter. I changed her last name to Longfist when I married Herald. Her original name was actually Emily Belmont..."

"Well yeah if she's your daughter." Alexandria said. "Who was her father? If you don't mind me asking."

Fiona smiled and stared at us. "Well if I would have married the father, then her name would have been Emily Diana...Grayson."

Alexandria and my jaw dropped immediately. "She's Grayson's daughter?" Alexandria asked.

Fiona smiled and nodded. Robert and I spent some time together before you guys left. I wasn't actively having sex then so I wasn't on the pill and Robert didn't use protection... So yeah."

"Did he know?" I asked.

"No... I wanted to tell him but he seemed so distant the last time I called him, all those years ago, and I never got the opportunity to tell him. I married Herald when she was 14 months so she doesn't remember Grayson at all. Herald died in combat, while in the army, when she was 17. Joe, our son, was 15."

"Wow..." I said and got up as my daughter texted me back. "I got a surprise for you." I said and opened her door as Aye and my "young adults" walked in gingerly.

"Oh my God, is this your family?" Fiona asked as she got up and hugged everyone. Ray and his kids, Felix and Senna, walked in after and they all got hugs from Fiona.

"I don't remember you telling me that she was this beautiful, Richard." Ray said and Fiona laughed and tapped his shoulder playfully.

We all talked for a few hours as our "young adults" were in the other room.

A buy in his early 20's opened the door and walked in.

"'Mom, I'm home!" He said and tossed some keys into a tray.

"Joe! Come here, there's someone I want you to meet." Fiona said.

A boy with long brown hair walked into the room and shook our hands.

"This is Richard Oblivion and Alexandria Ayalando Oblivion. I told you about them, remember?" Fiona said.

"Ah, the famous Oblivions!" Joe started. "Mom has told me countless stories about you two. It's nice to finally meet you.

"Mom, I'm going to the car to get my... Oh... Hi." Desirée started then mumbled the rest when she saw Joe.

"Hi, I'm Joe; it's nice to meet you." He said.

He walked to my daughter and shook her hand...and shook her hand...and shook her hand. They both chuckled but didn't let go.

"If you hold on for any longer, people are going to think you guys were holding hands." Alexandria, Fiona and I said at the same time. We all laughed when we realized what we just did.

Joe and Desirée let go and smiled at each other.

"How did work go?" Fiona asked.

"Huh? Good, too long." He started then looked at Desirée. "I work in a grocery store, boring I know, but it brings money home."

"Grocery stores are cool, my parents met in a grocery store." Desirée said.

"I like your earrings. Zodiac signs right? You're an Aries I take it?"

"Yeah, Aquamarine, March." Desirée said and pointed at her ear lobes that each had a Sapphire earring.

"I'm a Shamrock Spinel, May." Joe said and looked at her ears and reached then touched one of the stones on her left ear. "There it is."

"Joe... Joe!" Fiona said.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Did you bring what I asked?"

"No, I forgot. Let me go back. Do you want to come with me, Ms.?"

"Sure! I'm Desirée. Desirée Oblivion."

"Joe. Joe Longfist."

I noticed the rest of our children leaning on the door that lead into the next room as they stared at Desirée and Joe.

Desirée stared at me in her "can I go dad, please!" look and I simply pointed at the door.

She giggled and led Joe out of the door.

"Did, they just?" Fiona asked.

"Yup." I replied.

"Wow..." Fiona said.

"She's like that. I mean not in that way but she sees something she likes and makes it hers." I said.

"What's with all the earrings?" Fiona asked.

"Something about the zodiac signs." Aye said. "Each stone represents a month. The ones on her right ear means that they're not compatible with her sign while the ones on her left means that they are."

"Wow... Well I hope she likes anime and videogames because that's all he does." Fiona said, chuckling.

"He's like a male version of our daughter!" I said and we all shared a laugh.

-0-

An hour and a half later we left Fiona's house and headed towards the sea side cemetery. Joe and Desirée still didn't come back so I suspected that she was actually getting on continuing the family name.

We left the kids with Fiona as a babysitter, as she always did want to babysit our kids one day, and headed towards the cemetery. It took us a few minutes to find the twin graves with the white tiger on it.

"Hi mom, hi dad..." Alexandria started and sniffed.

We each took hours explaining what we had done in the last 20 something years. I glanced once towards the general direction of the gravestone that Fiona's parents were buried in but never saw anyone.

"My daughter might have found herself a boyfriend." I told my deceased parents. "Just now actually. I would have like for you guys to meet them. They would have made you proud."

Alexandria kept updating them as I looked up and saw a figure standing where the Walker graves were. The figure slowly dissolved into shadows as a note fell to the floor.

My heart skipped a beat and I excused myself from Alexandria and my deceased parents. I noted Aye and Ray talking in the background as I walked over to the Walker grave stones.

I picked up the note that was in cursive but had all the appropriate letters dotted with an o instead of a dot.

The note read:

Dear Richard.

I'm glad that I was able to see you guys again. Where to begin? How about with "I love you guys." I suppose that I do owe you guys an explanation on what happened. Well...

To begin with I didn't die, that's probably obvious by now, but I teleported somewhere, my powers weren't as strong as they are now but I was able to teleport, a few feet at first then miles at a time, until I was able to teleport from New Mexico to Maine (which is where I live now). I married a good guy, who I always wonder if he's related to you guys as his name is also Oblivion (no I did not marry him because of that).

I kept working on a cure for the Dark Gene and finally was able to submit it to a pharmaceutical company and they were able to refine it into a usable antidote that lasts about 25 hours. It will hit the market in about a year under the label Darmagene. I'm not going to use it as I grew quite fond of my powers in everyday chores; yes I became a housewife... Now that you've stopped laughing, I have two daughters now: Amelia and Loretta. Both take after her father and don't have any powers, not that that's a good thing but it's not a bad thing. I'm doing great now and I know you two are too as I...well checked up on you guys. I'm sorry that I took the music box that one night but when I heard it, I just had to have it. Lilium...it brings back so many memories. Funny thing is that after I teleported home, I listened to it for hours on end. My daughters thought there was something wrong as I didn't do anything but listen to the melody until my husband came home. I do miss you guys every day. I wish things could go back to what they were but I've made a new life for myself here and I know you two have there. I should go now. My phone number is (207) 211-8987 if you want to call me.

Thank you for being my best friends,

Veronica Walker Oblivion.

PS. You would not believe how many um...TOYS your sister and her husband have in the attic. Ask her who "Sargent Retendo" is.

I choked out a quick laugh and folded the note then placed it inside of my pocket. I arranged the flowers on the walker's grave stone then walked back and said goodbye to my parents as Alexandria wiped some tears away with her arm.

"We should do this more often." Alexandria said.

"Yeah, we should. It has been about twenty years since we last saw them. We should make a yearly trip." I replied.

We headed back to Fiona's house to pick up the kids but ended up staying the night. Fiona's kids slept in one room so Aye and I could sleep in Emily's room while My sister and Ray slept in the guest bedroom.

Joann, Poe, Felix, Senna, Jimmy and Erika slept in the living room. Desirée went to sleep in her new boyfriend's room. I was sure they didn't do anything other than sleep as I had changed into my white tiger form to listen in on them. I might joke around about wanting grandkids but I was still a father and all fathers wanted to make sure that their daughters weren't sexually active.

I fell asleep with Aye sleeping in nothing but her panties as we had a quiet but fun night.

I awoke next morning as Aye was getting dressed. It took a while for me to remember that we were sleeping in a girl's room. The peach colored walls actually looked nice.

Fiona had prepared a large breakfast for us that morning. She was really happy to see us, I observed.

We were half way done with breakfast when Joe and Desirée, who swore that they didn't shower together, joined us.

I really didn't mind Desirée being this attached to Joe as he was Fiona's son. That alone meant that he had to be a good kid.

"We really didn't." Desirée said.

"Mmhmm." I replied and bit into some eggs.

"Really, we were watching some Bleach." Joe said.

"Okay, let's just eat..." Joanna said. "I don't want to hear about my sister and her boyfriend's shower stories."

"We didn't shower together." Desirée repeated.

Fiona chuckled. "Yeah, these are your kids, Richard. Alexandria's are quieter. Felix here hasn't even said a word today."

Felix simply smiled and continued eating.

"Senna here is great help. She helped Emily and I prepare the breakfast this morning." Fiona continued.

"Just wanted to be helpful." Senna said.

"Yeah, see!" Alexandria boasted. "Even Fiona agrees that my children are better!"

"Hey!" Aye protested.

I held her arm so she wouldn't go over and claw my sister's eyes out.

"You're delusional; all our children have good traits." Ray said.

"Yeah but ours are better." Alexandria said.

"Really?" I asked. "And why is that?"

"Because they just are!" Alexandria replied.

"Really?" I asked and smiled my sinister smile and Aye stared with me as she knew I had some snappy come back. "Alie, my dear sister... Who's Sargent Retendo?"

Alexandria spat out the eggs, that she had been eating, across the room and landed at the far end wall as she fell backwards on her chair and hit the floor.

We all laughed as Alexandria stood back up as she beamed red in embarrassment. She tried to speak but couldn't say anything. I notice her glance move from me to something behind me.

I turned around and stood up when I saw the picture in its frame.

The picture, that had some chewed egg on it, showed five people in it:

A man in his 30's with a military uniform that showed off his Sargent title. He smiled and had his arm around a woman in her late 20's that wore an elegant and sophisticated dress as she stood in heels. An uncomfortable looking 13 year old tanned boy with a pair of dress pants and shirt. A 12 year old tanned girl with a pink dress and a flower on her hair and a 13 year old fair skinned blond girl who wore a pair of dressing pants and an elegant blouse.

I stared at the picture as Alexandria and Fiona joined me as I stared at the picture of us when we were younger. Back when we had simpler lives.

"I kept a copy of this picture in my bag at all times. I have no idea what happened to the original." Fiona said and passed her hands over the image of Grayson's face.

"I have it. We found it when we visited the base after the attack." I replied.

"Good times" Alexandria said and moved closer to whisper in my ear. "How did you find out about Sargent Retendo?" She asked.

I simply smiled and stared at the picture.

-The end-

Wow this story turned out a whole lot longer than I originally planned! At first I thought it would only be four, five chapters at most. Nope...well I enjoyed writing this series for you guys, hopefully this makes certain people really happy, as they did request it. Again thank you do much for the support and encouragement by some of you. I am 99% sure that I'm done with the "A Talbain Tail" series as continuing it would honestly be like beating on a dead horse... A very familiar and wonderful dead horse. I am not sure what I'm going to work on next, well actually I do; I'm going to work on Untitled (which I still need a title for, a loyal fan has suggested one already but I'm still open to suggestions). Okay, I'm digressing now...anyway thank you guys for the comments and messages, I hope to see you in other stuff I write and I'm going to sleep as I work at 7am tomorrow! Goodnight and once again; thank you.

-Victor, Aztec_moogle.


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